Netherlands

[NL] List of Important Events Adopted

IRIS 2004-1:1/30

Eric Idema

Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam

The Dutch State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science has adopted a list of events that are of major importance for Dutch society. The legal basis for the list is Article 72 of the Mediawet (Media Act), the Act that transposes the "Television without Frontiers" Directive (Directive 89/552/EEC, amended by Directive 97/36/EC) into Dutch law. Article 72 transposes Article 3a of the Directive. The list of designated events is now incorporated in the Mediabesluit (Media Decree), which implements the Media Act. The purpose of the list is to ensure that the designated events will be available to the public on free to air television (and not just on pay television). The adopted list is only slightly different from the list that was first proposed in 2000 (see IRIS 2000-5: 11).

The list consists of mainly sporting events and a few cultural events. It is divided into three categories. The first category (a) consists of events that must be broadcast live and in full on free to air television. This applies to all important football matches (World and European Championships, Champions League and UEFA Cup when Dutch teams are involved, national League Cup final and semi-finals), skating events (World and European Championships and the Elfstedentocht, a traditional long-distance race), tennis (parts of Roland Garros and Wimbledon) and two cultural events, the Eurovision Songfestival and the Prinsengrachtconcert. The second category (b) consists of events that must be broadcast live, but only in part, on free to air television. This applies to the Olympic Games, cycling (the Tour de France, the World Championships and a Dutch contest, the Amstelgoldrace) and the TT Assen, a motorcycle event. Each event has its own minimum length of broadcast. The third category (c) consists of events that must be broadcast on free to air television but only in part and on a deferred basis. This applies to matches of the National Football League, the Paralympics, athletics, hockey, volleyball and tennis. It also applies for Pinkpop, a music festival. Here each event has its own minimum length of broadcast.