AVMSD - Application and Implementation - Independent Regulators
Independent Regulators (Article 30)
Since 2003, an informal group of national regulators in the broadcasting area has been convened by the Commission for a yearly meeting in Brussels. The meetings are attended by independent national regulatory authorities of the Member States, the candidate countries and the EEA countries.
The AVMSD recognizes the existence and the role of the independent regulatory authorities which in most Member States are responsible for the effective enforcement of the national measures transposing the rules of the Directive.
In general, independent regulators in the field of audiovisual media services have to supervise audiovisual programmes’ compliance with European and national rules. This provision should provide a basis for an increased cooperation between regulators and the Commission in order to achieve an overall better enforcement of the rules of the Directive notably when issues of jurisdiction are at stake. More broadly, this exchange of information and cooperation allows discussions at EU level on issues of interpretation and application of provisions of the Directive, notably advertising rules. Such discussions allow a more consistent application of the rules and thus a level playing field throughout the EU.
A
study
on independent regulators, INDIREG, was conducted on behalf of the European
Commission, the final report (published in 2011) is available
on
this website. The study aimed to analyse the effective implementation
of the legal framework for the functioning of the media regulatory bodies in the
Member States, candidate and potential candidate countries of the European Union
as well as identifying the key characteristics of an independent regulatory
body. The authors of the study devised a tool for the self-assessment of
independence and efficient functioning of the media regulatory bodies, based on
formal and de facto criteria, such as status and powers, financial autonomy,
autonomy of decision-makers, knowledge and accountability and transparency
mechanism.
Article 30
Member States shall take appropriate measures to provide each other and the
Commission with the information necessary for the application of this Directive,
in particular Articles 2, 3 and 4, in particular through their competent
independent regulatory bodies.
