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In 1999, after much hesitation, the Government of the French-speaking Community of Belgium adopted a first order designed to protect minors from television broadcasts likely to be damaging to their physical, mental or moral development. It classified broadcasts into four groups, three of which had to be broadcast with a pictogram - programmes subject to parental agreement, programmes banned for anyone under the age of 16, and programmes banned on all but encrypted channels. The identification marking, which corresponds to the Belgian system for classifying films shown in cinemas, was nevertheless...

On 24 January 2001, the Flemish Parliament agreed on some new provisions in the Flemish Broadcasting Act regarding teleshopping. The new provisions create the possibility for private organisations to obtain a licence as a TV-station programming only teleshopping. Until now, the existing commercial TV-broadcasters were allowed to programme teleshopping only within a restricted framework. The new provisions that will soon be published in the Moniteur (Official Journal) create a new type of broadcasting licence allowing a TV-station to programme exclusively teleshopping. At the same time, the articles...

On 14 November 2000, the Flemish Parliament agreed on some new provisions in the decreten betreffende de radio-omroep en de televisie (Flemish Broadcasting ActArt. 38sexies - 38terdecies). The new provisions create the possibility for private organisations to obtain a licence and to be allowed frequencies for the commercial broadcasting of radio programmes targeting (nearly) the entire Flemish Community. Until now, radio frequencies were only available for local and metropolitan private radio stations, while regional or national private radio was only allowed by means of cable distribution. All...

The Vlaamse Geschillenraad voor radio en televisie (Flemish Council for Disputes in Radio and Television) for the second time held that the Flemish public broadcasting organisation (VRT) breached its obligation under the decreten betreffende de radio-omroep en de televisie (Flemish Broadcasting Act). This time, the Council found that a radio programme had ridiculed in a discriminatory way the essentials of Christian belief, namely the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. The Council of Disputes recognised the existence of the freedom of expression for broadcasters to criticise and to impart ideas...

By its Decree of 30 March 1999, the Flemish Parliament has decided to establish a new council to guarantee the protection of minors in application of Article 22 of the "Television without Frontiers" Directive. This new Council, the Vlaamse Kijk- en Luisterraad (Flemish Viewing and Listening Council for Radio and Television"the Council") will be composed of 2 judges and 7 experts inter alia in the field of child psychology and pedagogy. The Council will be empowered to take decisions on its own initiative or subsequent to a complaint. A conviction by the Council can lead to a warning and a request...