EU vows to get tough on opening TV advertising markets

(BRUSSELS) - Regulators on Monday ordered a host of European Union countries that missed a deadline to implement new continent-wide digital advertising rules to shape up or face legal action.

New EU rules that were to be incorporated into individual countries' national laws by December 19 cover a huge range of broadcasting issues but also allow for split-screen advertising and product placement -- commonly used, for example, in film financing -- in all shows "except news, documentaries and children's programmes," according to the European Commission.

The new Audiovisual Media Services Directive applies to all audiovisual services, including on-demand, over fixed, mobile or satellite networks.

But a commission official stressed that they would not force, for example, the tax-funded BBC in Britain, which does not carry advertising, to change the way it operates.

While the directive makes it an offence to carry product placement in children's shows anywhere in the EU, the BBC would not be forced to introduce any new advertising platforms because Britain -- as with any country -- could choose which of the new rules it wants to use within its territories.

However, countries that do not apply individual changes may open themselves up to the threat of companies from other TV jurisdictions taking legal action to enable material featuring product placement to be aired to their audiences.

Two years after the directive was agreed, the commission said, only Belgium, Romania and Slovakia are fully compliant with EU law, having notified the bloc's executive of their implementation.

Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands have implemented "some measures," but Hungary's parliament blocked a bill's passage there entirely and the remaining 14 EU states have yet to get past preliminary preparations

"We updated the EU TV rules to make Europe's audiovisual industry more competitive," said Viviane Reding, EU Information Society and Media Commissioner in a statement.

"I urgently call on EU countries to adapt their national laws to ensure that new advertising techniques... are also possible.

"The commission will not shy away from using its powers under the (Lisbon) Treaty to ensure this happens effectively," she underlined.

According to the commission statement, "the European Court of Justice says that parts of a directive may be directly effective after the deadline in an EU country even if it has not (or not adequately) been implemented."

Under Lisbon, which entered into force on December 1, the court can "specify a lump sum or penalty payment to be paid by the member state concerned," the commission warned.

Time up for EU Member States to tune TV 
rules to digital age - briefing