Belgium

[BE] Cooperation between Arcom and the CSA following launch of an advertising service aimed at Belgium by France Télévisions

IRIS 2026-3:1/17

Olivier Hermanns

European Audiovisual Observatory

Two regulatory authorities, one French and the other French-speaking Belgian, have reached an agreement on the procedure to be applied in the event of complaints relating to the Belgian versions of several French television services produced by the French public company France Télévisions.

The French audiovisual regulator (Autorité de Régulation de la Communication Audiovisuelle et Numérique - Arcom) is responsible for regulating the France 2, France 3 and France 5 services. A Belgian version of these three services has been launched, with commercial communications aimed at the Belgian marketplace. The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) is the authority responsible for regulating the audiovisual sector in the French-speaking community of Belgium.

Advertising breaks aimed at French-speaking Belgian viewers have been launched in the past, but these concerned private French television services. To our knowledge, this is the first time a public service broadcaster has launched channels targeting audiences in a member state other than the one in which it is established.

The memorandum of understanding, signed on 29 January 2026, is an illustration of the "fair and expeditious" cooperation that must be established, "with a view to achieving a mutually satisfactory solution", between regulatory authorities pursuant to Article 4(2)(1) sentence 2 of Directive 2010/13/EU (AVMS Directive).

In practical terms, the procedure for handling viewer complaintsstat begins with an exchange of information between the regulatory authorities. Each is informed of the substance of the complaint, which must be admissible. Each authority then analyses the case and issues an opinion, which must state whether or not there has been an infringement of its respective legislation on commercial communications and public service announcements.

If the CSA believes that France Télévisions has breached the French-speaking Belgian regulations, Arcom must "encourage" it to comply. Arcom's investigation procedure continues in accordance with French law.

If Arcom believes that France Télévisions has infringed French regulations, its investigation procedure continues in accordance with French law.

In the event of an infringement of both French-speaking Belgian and French regulations, the two procedures are conducted in parallel. Consequently, Arcom will have to encourage France Télévisions to comply with the French-speaking Belgian regulations and will continue the investigation under French law.

It should be noted that France Télévisions, as a "publisher of external television services" targeting French-speaking Belgian viewers, will also be required to contribute to audiovisual production in the French-speaking community of Belgium.