[Digest] Q&A session: Implementation of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive

Committee on Culture and Education – Concomitant expertise for an ‘Implementation Report’ on the 2018 revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive requested by CULT Committee, commissioned and managed by the Policy Department– Presentation and Q&A session with Prof. M. Cole, Institute of European Media Law (EMR)

Brussels, 14 November 2022,

The AVMSD is the legal framework that establishes principles for a safe, pluralistic and open audiovisual media landscape in Europe and governs EU-wide coordination of national legislation on audiovisual matters. The last revision of this Directive took place in 2018, and the deadline for transposition into national legislation was set on 19 September 2020. According to input received, a considerable number of Member States has failed to comply with the deadline for transposition, the CULT Committee would like to assess the reasons for these delays and has decided to draw up an ‘Implementation Report’ on the 2018 revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

On 14 November 2022 was held a presentation followed by a Q&A session with expert providing a concomitant expertise aiming to support the work of the CULT Committee on the Implementation report. The Q&A session focused on the following issues:

• country of origin (COO) as a cornerstone of the Directive, including jurisdiction criteria, derogation mechanisms and anti-circumvention measures and COO limits as regards potential threats from content providers outside of the EU
• new rules on video-sharing providers (VSP), in particular the co-regulation basis for execution of the rules, implementation delay in Ireland, the Member State hosting major VSPs and a key role of cooperation mechanisms between national regulatory authorities
• extended rules on promotion of European works, including obligations for VOD providers, efficiency of quota systems, definition of a ‘programme’, prominence obligations and monitoring aspects
• interplays and coherence between existing and proposed legal acts within the audiovisual eco-system
• relevance of institutional structures and cooperation on European level for the implementation of the revised AVMSD
• enlargement of investment obligations to VSPs
• perspectives of future revision of the Directive