On 19 December, the EBU submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the evaluation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). From safeguarding the protection of minors and consumers more broadly, to ensuring media pluralism, to promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, the AVMSD continues to be an indispensable legal framework, both offline and online.

The EBU’s Senior Policy Adviser, Thomas Bergmann, said: “The AVMSD is the backbone of EU media regulation and remains the right tool to safeguard public interest objectives while ensuring the seamless provision of media services across borders. The evaluation of the Directive must go hand in hand with a thorough assessment of the media sector's overall health. From economic pressures and competition with less regulated players to technological disruption, the Commission must take a comprehensive reality check to determine how the AVMSD can continue to support a sustainable, pluralistic media environment in the future. We have heard enough political declarations. Now is the time for the Commission to demonstrate through concrete actions that it supports European media and takes its challenges seriously.”

In our submission we highlighted the following areas that must be considered during the evaluation of the Directive:

Prominence of general interest media services
The optional nature of the AVMSD's prominence rules has stalled the widespread national adoption. This lack of action has significant consequences, depriving citizens across the EU of access to trusted, reliable, and culturally relevant content, which fosters social cohesion. Going forward, we urge policymakers to create a more ambitious and clearer legal framework, making it mandatory for Member States to ensure that citizens can find the media that matter most for opinion-forming, democratic participation and social cohesion.

Video-sharing platforms (VSPs)
VSPs compete directly with AVMS on small as well as big screens. The European Commission should thoroughly evaluate the existing regulatory asymmetries between AVMS providers and VSPs, considering the realities of today’s media market and consumption patterns.

Relationship of AVMSD with DSA and ECD
The AVMSD’s effectiveness is increasingly challenged by horizontal laws such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the E-Commerce Directive (ECD). Broad interpretations of the DSA and ECD by the European Commission have restricted Member States' ability to apply national measures to certain operators, particularly in areas like the prominence of general interest media services and the protection of minors. It should be clarified that the AVMSD, as a sector-specific legal framework, must prevail over broad horizontal rules.

Finally, we note that the media sector is grappling with a myriad of new challenges that undermine citizens' trust in the media, the sector's reputation, and its economic sustainability, which has also been confirmed in the recent Presidency conclusions and the EU Democracy Shield. We therefore urge the Commission to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the overall health of Europe’s media market as part of the AVMSD evaluation and not shy away from taking new regulatory initiatives to support a viable media landscape in Europe.

Read our full submission to the right.