Netherlands

[NL] Media Policy Priorities of the Dutch Media Authority in 2013

IRIS 2013-5:1/34

Pascale Kos

Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam

In accordance with Article 7.20 (1) of the Mediawet 2008 (Dutch Media Act), the Commissariaat voor de Media (Media Authority - CvdM) must report each year to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science on its intended enforcement policy. On 31 October 2012 the CvdM sent its enforcement letter 2013 to the Minister and made it public.

In its letter to the Minister, the CvdM first emphasises the general principles in its enforcement strategy that are focused on stimulating the presence of a level playing field and effective and customised supervision measures for different media institutions. The CvdM also presents the priority topics it has on its agenda for 2013, which include supervising commercial on-demand media services and supervising compliance with product placement rules.

Due to the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) in the Dutch Media Act 2008 (see IRIS 2010-3/32), these two important subjects (commercial on-demand media services and product placement) have been added to the tasks of the CvdM. The CvdM has identified these topics as a priority towards developing its enforcement strategy in 2013.

Concerning commercial on-demand media services, last year the CvdM’s focus was on the registration of commercial on-demand services. Therefore the Media Authority created a registry where the on-demand services had to be registered. In 2013 the main goal of the CvdM will be to put in place the supervision mechanism of the registered services. The Media Authority also mentioned the protection of Internet users against severely harmful content as another area of interest.

Concerning product placement the CvdM, after an elaborate consultation, developed new policy rules for advertising and sponsoring. The Minister still has to ratify the new regulation on product placement. When this has been done, the focus for 2013 will be on supervising compliance with these new rules. The basic principle will be that national broadcasters may not find themselves in a worse position than competing foreign broadcasters.