Press releases
Publishers of newspapers and magazines in Europe are concerned that the Council’s general approach on the proposal for an updated AVMS Directive could seriously undermine media pluralism and press freedom in Europe.
First of all, the Council text supports an unprecedented deregulation of the audiovisual advertising market, which is probably neither what consumers want nor certainly what the objective of maintaining a vibrant and pluralistic media landscape requires.
Despite repeated calls to avoid reopening the existing hourly-based time restriction for TV audiovisual commercial communications (Article 23), Member States in the Council significantly moved away from such a rule and, as a result, would create a highly insecure situation for the press sector on the advertising market. In that context, EMMA and ENPA urge Member States to, at the very least, not go further in terms of deregulation and, in particular, firmly oppose to the Parliament’s proposal to make isolated ad spots as admissible as any other advertisements.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
