Press releases
European Parliament has approved the mandate for inter-institutional negotiations to the rapporteurs on the AVMS file in spite of persisting concerns in regard to the press sector.
Following the plenary vote yesterday, it is now confirmed that the two Cult Committee rapporteurs have a mandate to move forward with interinstitutional negotiations. Publishers of newspapers and magazines in Europe are concerned that these negotiations will start on the basis of a Parliament report on the proposal for an updated AVMS Directive that could seriously compromise media pluralism and press freedom in Europe, despite strong disagreement expressed in the different political groups.
In particular, the Parliament’s report advocates for isolated ad spots to be as admissible as any other advertisement, including during TV prime time, although this provision (Article 19) was not part of the initial European Commission proposal. Similarly, the text changes the hourly based limitation in advertising rules to a daily percentage, which will fuel advertising during prime time hours. Finally, EMMA and ENPA regret that press websites are included under the scope of the Directive although their principal purpose is not to display videos which will entail many press freedom issues.
As a result, the mandate is backing measures that are harmful to a free and economically independent press. The report adopted on 25 April, which is the basis of this mandate, supports further deregulation of the audiovisual advertising rules which neither guarantee consumer protection nor create the conditions necessary for media diversity and press freedom.
ENPA is an international non-profit organisation representing publishers of newspaper and news media on all platforms. ENPA is working on a number of areas of European policy and legislation which are essential for the effective day-to-day running of operations of local, regional and national newspapers. In a rapidly changing media environment, ENPA supports publishers with the aim of achieving a successful and sustainable future for independent news media in Europe. For more information: www.enpa.eu
EMMA, the European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats. EMMA represents 15.000 publishing houses, publishing 50.000 magazine titles across Europe in print and digital. For more information, visit www.magazinemedia.eu
The European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
