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It is now 20 years since the first publication of the European Convention on Trans-frontier Television (ECTT), which reflected the state of broadcasting at that time, and set out standards for regulation, and for promoting freedom of expression, by Council of Europe Member States. Since that time technological change in audiovisual media has been accelerating: with the switchover to digital transmission, the growth of video on demand, and most recently with the prospect of convergence with computing and telecommunications. Regulation which was possible when a few broadcasters transmitted to a...

On 11 December 2008, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a judgment regarding a ban on political advertising on television. The crucial question the Court had to decide was whether a blanket ban on political advertisements on TV, as it was applied in Norway, was to be considered “necessary in a democratic society'” within the meaning of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In principle, there is little scope under Article 10 of the Convention for restrictions on political speech or on debate on questions of public interest. However, a ban on paid political...

Through the Ordonanţa de Urgenţă Nr. 181/2008 pentru modificarea şi completarea Legii audiovizualului Nr. 504/2002 (Emergency Government Decree amending and completing Audiovisual Act no. 504/2002), which entered into force on 3 December 2008, Romania became the first EU Member State to transpose the provisions of EC Directive 2007/65/EC on audiovisual media services into its domestic law. As a result, TV advertising rules have been relaxed, since new advertising techniques such as product placement (plasarea de produse), split-screen advertising (publicitatea pe ecran partajat) and virtual advertising...

In its Deliberation of 24 September 2008, the Italian Autorità per la Garanzia nelle Comunicazioni (Communications Authority - AGCOM), issued an Interpretative communication concerning several aspects of television advertising rules aimed at clarifying the criteria it follows in the application of certain rules concerning television advertising, in the context of its monitoring and enforcement powers. From the preamble to the Deliberation, it becomes apparent that it is intended, inter alia, to align the rules with the European Commission's interpretation of some provisions of the Television Without...

The bills for reforming the public-sector audiovisual scene have provoked stormy discussions in the National Assembly. Being fewer in number, the opposition MPs firmly opposed to the bill as prepared and drafted by the parliamentary majority had no choice but to table hundreds of amendments in order to delay voting, hoping thereby to cause the reform to fail. In view of the delay caused by examination of the bill in the National Assembly, the Government made the surprising decision not to wait for Parliament’s vote before applying the key measure in the reform - the abolition of advertising. The...