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having regard to the competences of the Member States on developing ambitious cultural policies in the audiovisual field, in line with Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union and Articles 6 and 167 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

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having regard to Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) (1),

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having regard to Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (‘Audiovisual Media Services Directive’) in view of changing market realities (2),

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having regard to the Commission communication of 7 July 2020 entitled ‘Guidelines on the practical application of the essential functionality criterion of the definition of a “video-sharing platform service” under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive’  (3),

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having regard to the Commission communication of 7 July 2020 entitled ‘Guidelines pursuant to Article 13(7) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive on the calculation of the share of European works in on-demand catalogues and on the definition of low audience and low turnover’  (4),

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having regard to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, in particular its provisions regarding the media,

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having regard to the Council conclusions of 4 April 2022 on building a European Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries Ecosystem (5),

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having regard to the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Regulatory Authority Members of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) of 3 December 2020,

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having regard to the 2022 Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation,

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having regard to the Commission communication of 3 December 2020 entitled ‘Europe’s Media in the Digital Decade: An Action Plan to Support Recovery and Transformation’ (COM(2020)0784),

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having regard to the study of the Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies of its Directorate-General for Internal Policies of November 2022 entitled ‘Implementation of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive — Background Analysis of the main aspects of the 2018 AVMSD revision’,

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having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure, as well as Article 1(1)(e) of and Annex 3 to the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

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having regard to the opinion of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education (A9-0139/2023),

A.

whereas the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) should play a key role in structuring the European audiovisual ecosystem, guided by the principles of protecting cultural and linguistic diversity and pluralism of opinion and promoting the distribution and production of European audiovisual media services in the European Union;

B.

whereas the latest revision of the AVMSD, adopted on 28 November 2018, provided a framework for strengthening the ‘country of origin’ principle and improving consumer protection, in particular for minors and persons with disabilities, in the online world;

C.

whereas the country of origin principle is enshrined in EU law, specifically in Article 2(1) of the AVMSD, and has successfully proved itself to be an important pillar for the free and unhindered dissemination of information and for the cross-border provision of audiovisual media services by providing legal certainty; whereas it constitutes an important basis for protecting audiovisual media service providers and enables investments in innovative and creative productions and improvements in the discoverability of European audiovisual works;

D.

whereas the role of the revised AVMSD is to support and benefit European cultural creation and cultural diversity in a changing audiovisual sector in line with other rules, such as the copyright provision of Directive (EU) 2019/790 (6), which asks for fair remuneration for right holders;

E.

whereas creating an area without internal borders for audiovisual media services that also affords a high level of protection to objectives of general interest cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone and can therefore be better achieved at Union level;

F.

whereas new horizontal legal provisions at Union level make it necessary to clarify their interconnections under the specific legal framework for audiovisual media service providers in a consistent and coherent manner;

G.

whereas the potential for conflict and thus the need for consistency and coherence has increased significantly in recent times due to enacted or proposed legislation at EU level in the ‘digital decade’, namely, the Digital Services Act (7), which addresses players in the distribution and value chain of audiovisual content and has direct links with the AVMSD; whereas more evident links exist in the proposals for a European media freedom act and for a regulation on political advertising, which address issues directly relevant for the audiovisual media sector;

H.

whereas information about the ownership of media service providers and video-sharing platform providers should be easily, comprehensively and publicly available, as this is of key importance in limiting further media concentration;

I.

whereas providing positive encouragement and promoting professional EU audiovisual media services can make an important contribution to the global fight against disinformation and fake news; whereas this contributes to the effective implementation of the right to information and to the promotion of public discourse based on a multitude of opinions;

J.

whereas a large number of online platforms do not provide access to audience data for works distributed by media service providers; whereas however, this data is indispensable to adjust policies and to support content creation;

K.

whereas independent and impartial national and regional media regulatory authorities are a precondition for media freedom and pluralism, as they protect the media from undue political and commercial interference by safeguarding independent, accountable and transparently operating media services;

L.

whereas under the revised AVMSD, ERGA brings together representatives of national independent regulatory bodies in the field of audiovisual media services to advise the Commission on the consistent implementation of the AVMSD and to exchange best practices;

M.

whereas in more than half of the EU Member States, the appointment procedures for heads of media regulatory authorities risk not being effective enough in limiting the risk of political and/or economic influence (8);

N.

whereas a large number of enterprises active in the EU audiovisual media are also small and medium-sized enterprises, which require special safeguards in order to offer a diverse range of services to a European audience;

O.

whereas in light of the omnipresence of digital media services and of the proliferation of information sources on the internet, the acquisition of media literacy by children and adolescents, as well as by adults, is an indispensable basic skill, which, in addition to functional understanding, must include the ability for critical (self-)reflection regarding media usage patterns;

P.

whereas the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities legally requires the EU and all its Member States to ensure the right to accessibility (Article 9 thereof), freedom of expression, opinion, and access to information (Article 21 thereof) and participation in cultural life (Article 30 thereof);

Q.

whereas the Member States’ significantly delayed transposition of the AVMSD undermines its effectiveness;