(1)

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (3) (‘the Charter’) declares in Article 1 the inviolability of human dignity, providing that it must be respected and protected. Article 24 of the Charter provides that children have the right to such protection and care as is necessary for their well-being and that in all actions relating to children, whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child's best interests must be a primary consideration.

(2)

The European Union should gear its political action to preventing any form of violation of the principle of respect for human dignity.

(3)

Legislative measures need to be enacted at Union level on the protection of the physical, mental and moral development of minors in relation to the content of all audiovisual and information services and the protection of minors from access to inappropriate adult programmes or services.

(4)

The constant development of new information and communication technologies makes it urgent for the Community to ensure full and adequate protection for citizens' interests in this field on the one hand, by guaranteeing the free delivery and free provision of information services and, on the other hand, by ensuring that their content is legal, respects the principle of human dignity and does not impair the overall development of minors.

(5)

The Community has already intervened in the field of audiovisual and information services in order to create the necessary conditions to ensure the free movement of television broadcasts and other information services, in compliance with the principles of free competition and freedom of expression and information, but it should act with greater determination in this area with the aim of adopting measures to protect consumers from incitement to discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and of combating any such discrimination. Such action should strike a balance between the protection of individual rights on the one hand and freedom of expression on the other, in particular with respect to Member States' responsibility for defining the notion of incitement to hatred or discrimination in accordance with their national legislation and moral values.

(6)

Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity (4) is the first legal instrument at Community level which in its recital (5) addresses issues of the protection of minors and of human dignity in relation to audiovisual and information services made available to the public, whatever the means of conveyance. Article 22 of Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by Law, Regulation or Administrative Action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (5) (‘Television without Frontiers Directive’) has already specifically addressed the question of the protection of minors and human dignity in television broadcasting activities.

(7)

It is suggested that the Council and the Commission should pay special attention to the implementation of this Recommendation when revising, negotiating or concluding new partnership agreements or new cooperation programmes with third countries, bearing in mind the global character of producers, distributors or providers of audiovisual content and Internet access.

(8)

By Decision No 276/1999/EC (6), the European Parliament and the Council adopted a multiannual Community Action plan on promoting safer use of the Internet by combating illegal and harmful content on global networks (the ‘Safer Internet Action Plan’).

(9)

Decision No 1151/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) extended the Safer Internet Action Plan for two years and amended its scope to include measures to encourage exchange of information and coordination with the relevant actors at national level as well as special provisions for the accession countries.

(10)

Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (8) clarifies some legal concepts and harmonises certain aspects in order to enable information society services to fully benefit from the internal market principles. A number of the provisions of Directive 2000/31/EC are also relevant to the protection of minors and human dignity, in particular Article 16(1)(e), according to which Member States and the Commission are to encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct regarding the protection of minors and human dignity.

(11)

The changing media landscape, resulting from new technologies and media innovation, makes it necessary to teach children, and also parents, teachers and trainers to use audiovisual and on-line information services effectively.

(12)

On the whole, self-regulation of the audiovisual sector is proving an effective additional measure, but it is not sufficient to protect minors from messages with harmful content. The development of a European audiovisual area based on freedom of expression and respect for citizens' rights should be based on continuous dialogue between national and European legislators, regulatory authorities, industries, associations, citizens and civil society.

(13)

In the public consultation concerning Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (9), it was suggested that the need to adopt measures in relation to media literacy be included among the subjects covered by Recommendation 98/560/EC.

(14)

The Commission encourages cooperation and the sharing of experience and best practices between existing self- and co-regulatory bodies, which deal with the rating or classification of audiovisual content, regardless of the means by which it is delivered, with a view to enabling all users, but especially parents, teachers and trainers, to report illegal content and assess the content of audiovisual and on-line information services, as well as any legal content which could harm the physical, mental or moral development of minors.

(15)

As suggested during the public consultation concerning Directive 97/36/EC, it is appropriate for the right of reply or equivalent remedies to apply to on-line media, and to take into account the specific features of the medium and service concerned.

(16)

The Council Resolution of 5 October 1995 on the image of women and men portrayed in advertising and the media (10) invites the Member States and the Commission to take adequate measures to promote a diversified and realistic picture of the skills and potential of women and men in society.

(17)

When tabling its proposal for a Council Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services, the Commission noted that the portrayal of the sexes in the media and in advertising raises important questions about the protection of the dignity of men and women, but concluded that, in the light of other fundamental rights, including the freedom and pluralism of the media, it would not be appropriate to address these questions in that proposal but that it should take stock of these questions.

(18)

The audiovisual and on-line information services industry should be encouraged at Member State level to avoid and to combat any type of discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in such media and all advertising, including new advertising techniques, without infringing freedom of expression or of the press.

(19)

This Recommendation covers new technological developments and complements Recommendation 98/560/EC. Its scope, on account of technological advances, includes audiovisual and on-line information services made available to the public via fixed or mobile electronic networks.

(20)

Nothing in this Recommendation prevents Member States from applying their constitutional provisions and other legislation and legal practices regarding freedom of expression,