European Liberals and Democrats consider the outcome of the first reading vote in Parliament today on the proposal for a directive on "Television without borders" as a satisfactory compromise between various conflicting positions.  This text is balanced as much for the rules on advertising as the protection of minors and vulnerable people, while the extension of its field of application to the new services of audio visual media constitutes a legal safeguard for their future development.

"This text is based on the audio visual landscape and manages to avoid two pitfalls said  Ignasi Guardans (Convergencia Democratica Catalunya, Spain) ALDE shadow rapporteur. " The aim is to avoid that European television moves too far towards the American model dominated by advertising breaks, but at the same time avoid too much regulation which would have prevented audio visual innovation and undermined the commercial viability of the more flexible model."

This text is based on the audio visual landscape and manages to avoid two pitfalls    

Ignasi Guardans

By accepting a number of Parliamentary amendments, including several by ALDE,  the European Commission has opened the way for a quick agreement in second reading, to the satisfaction of Mr Guardans: "We have achieved in Parliament a rigorous and precise objective which will help the transposition of the legislation and which will guarantee that the regulatory framework of television will not become obsolete too soon,"  Guardans continued.

"This text allows us to protect the country-of-origin principle for audiovisual products, establishing the foundations for a truly European audiovisual area."

" We are particularly satisfied by two important innovations - the commitment  to create an independent regulatory organisation in the audio visual field and also that this directive will stimulate self regulation, the effectiveness of which has been proven in some Member States".

According to the ALDE shadow rapporteur there were just two points of regret in the vote today which will need to be addressed in second reading: "I regret that Parliament has introduced time limits to non-linear (internet) services which does not make any sense. I am also disappointed that Parliament added a restriction to the definition of product placement which will reduce the transparency of warnings by limiting it to payments made to the original producers of a film rather than all subsequent broadcasters."