Nike Sb Dunk Air Jordan 1 Newfashionstorm Nike Sb Dunk Television Without Frontiers: the Convention and the Directive

Television Without Frontiers: the Convention and the Directive

Much as its being talked about, few around these parts know what Television Without Frontiers is about (most of whom are media professionals). The main instrument of European television policy sure would deserve much more attention so BO is trying to cut through the ignorance.

Adopted in 1989, the European Convention on Transfrontier Television lays down a number of rules for the free and unhindered circulation of television programmes across the countries which are Parties to this Council of Europe treaty. As of 1st January 2003, 25 European States have ratified the Convention and are therefore bound by it: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and the Holy See.

The main objective pursued by the Convention is to encourage the free circulation of television programmes on the basis of a number of commonly agreed standards (linked to the fundamental values of the Organisation) and thus to promote the free exchange of information and ideas.

The Convention applies only to programmes of a transfrontier nature/dimension1, that is, to television programmes which emanate from one Party and can be received, directly or indirectly, in one or more other Parties. The technical means by which the programme is transmitted is not relevant (cable, satellite, terrestrial transmitter, etc.), the only essential factor being that the programme is transmitted intentionally by a broadcaster to another country or is received in that country unavoidably, for example due to an overspill of the signal beyond the national borders of the broadcaster. Therefore, it is a purely factual criterion that determines when a programme is considered transfrontier: that is, when the programme goes beyond the national borders.

A basic principle of the Convention is that it guarantees freedom of reception and retransmission, that is, Party's to the Convention must ensure freedom of reception and not restrict the retransmission on their territories of television programmes which are in conformity with the Convention's standards. Article 4, which embodies this principle, is therefore one of the fundamental ones in the Convention, since it secures freedom of expression and information.

Television Without Frontiers: the Directive

The Convention served as a basis for the preparation of the "Television without Frontiers" Directive (89/552/EEC). Nota bene: the Convention provides a pan-European framework for the free circulation of television programme services, but does not regulate domestic broadcasting activities as such. This is precisely the fundamental difference between the Convention and the "Television without Frontiers" Directive: the Convention only applies to transfrontier programmes whereas the Directive applies to both domestic and transfrontier broadcasting in the EU member States. However, given that many broadcasting services which are initially created with a domestic intention become transfrontier out of the fact that they are transmitted or can be received in another country, the Convention rules therefore also apply to such services.

Further Developments

Since the adoption of the Convention in 1989, a number of important changes in the broadcasting sector have taken place, in particular as a result of technological developments. It was therefore considered necessary to amend the Convention to take account of these developments, as well as to maintain a coherence with the "Television without Frontiers Directive", which was also revised in 1997. The protocol amending the Transfrontier Television Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 9 September 1998, and entered into force on 1 March 2002.

Main dispositions

Right of reply
If a person's reputation or good name has been damaged by an assertion of incorrect facts in a television programme in a country Party to the Convention, the reply, correction or rectification of those statements should be made possible (or a comparable legal or administrative remedy).

Pornography, violence and protection of minors
Article 7 aims at the protection of human dignity and fundamental rights and lays down the general responsibilities regarding the content of programmes. The article provides that programmes should not contain pornography, should not incite to racial hatred and should not give violence an unnecessary prominent place.
This being said, the Convention does not establish a system of State interference in the content of programming, and leaves the Parties free to decide how they are to comply with such obligations (in accordance with their constitutional/legal system as well as traditions and cultural sensitivity).
It is also mentioned that programmes which may impair the physical, mental or moral development of children should not be scheduled at a time when children or minors are likely to watch them (watershed principle).

Events of major importance
The revision of the Convention in 1998 included the right of broadcasters to broadcast, in their scheduled news programmes, short reports of any event which they consider to be of high interest to their public (even in cases where another broadcaster has acquired exclusive rights to such an event).
The revised Convention also introduced a framework to guarantee the public's free access to the broadcasts of events of "major importance for society" (an important innovation)2. Each Party is entitled to draw up a list of events which it considers are of major importance for society. Such events have to be broadcast unencrypted and on free television -even if exclusive rights have been bought by a broadcaster- provided the list of events has been approved by the Standing Committee which implements the Convention. The system is based on the principle of mutual recognition, which means that Parties will have to ensure that broadcasters under their jurisdiction respect the list of events drawn up by another Party. It should be noted that the Convention and the revised "Television without Frontiers" Directive have been completely aligned on this point.

Promotion of European works
With the aim of supporting European audiovisual programme production, Article 10 stipulates that broadcasters should reserve, "where practicable and by appropriate means", a majority proportion of their transmission time for the broadcasting of "European works" (national and/or European co-productions of films, fiction, series, documentaries, arts and educational programmes, etc). The Convention uses the wording "where practicable", which allows for a certain flexibility on this provision. The Directive however is more strict: broadcasters must reserve at least 10% of their transmission time or 10% of their programming budget for European works from independent producers (Article 5).

Television advertising, teleshopping and sponsorship
As regards duration of advertising (time-limits), the revised Convention establishes that advertising and tele-shopping spots should not exceed 20% of a given clock hour, and that all forms of advertising together should not exceed 20% of the daily transmission time. Self-promotional announcements are assimilated to advertising but are not counted for the purpose of calculating the percentage of advertising time.
As regards the insertion of advertising and teleshopping, it is stipulated that it should be done between programmes, or during programmes under a number of conditions (so that the integrity and value of the programme is not prejudiced). For instance, feature films can be interrupted once for each complete period of 45 minutes and news, documentaries, religious or children's programmes should not be interrupted if they last less than 30 minutes.

There are also a number of rules concerning advertising of particular products. The Convention forbids advertising for tobacco products, medicines and medical treatments that are only available on prescription. Advertising for alcohol is permitted under a number of conditions: that it does not particularly address minors, does not link consumption to physical performance, does not claim that alcohol has therapeutic qualities or presents abstinence in a negative light. The Directive, however, forbids the advertising of alcoholic beverages completely.
The Convention rules on sponsorship say that a programme sponsor should be identified with appropriate credits at the beginning and/or end of the programme and that the sponsor should not influence the content and scheduling of programmes. In addition, it is not permitted to make promotional references to the products or services of the sponsor or to sponsor news and current affairs programmes.

Implementation of the Convention
The implementation of the Convention relies on the principles of mutual assistance and co-operation between the Parties. A "Standing Committee on Transfrontier Television" has been set up to monitor the implementation of the Convention and to act as a forum for the exchange of views on developments in the broadcasting sector. The Standing Committee is composed of representatives of the Parties and meets around 3 times a year in Strasbourg to discuss difficulties regarding the application of the Convention. Upon request, it can intervene to seek a friendly settlement of such difficulties or formulate opinions on how certain provisions of the Convention should be interpreted. Council of Europe member States that are still not Parties to the Convention can also participate in the meetings of the Standing Committee as observers.

These are the main lines of the Convention and the Directive. As a result of the combination of both, a coherent legal space for the broadcasting sector in Europe is created, and the conditions for the free movement of television services in Europe are clearly laid down.

***

1 Jurisdiction criteria: a number of criteria are provided in Article 5 to determine the place where a broadcaster is established, the first one being the country where a broadcaster's "head office is located and where management decisions concerning programming are taken". A Party to the Convention must ensure that all broadcasters that come under its jurisdiction comply with the Convention. Under the "country of origin principle" it is understood that broadcasters are only subject to the jurisdiction of the originating State, without the need of having secondary control in the receiving Parties.

2 In fact, this right had already been recognised in Recommendation No. R (91) 5 on the right to short reporting, but not in a legally binding form as is the case now.