Audiovisual Media Services Directive meaning

In this issue: EU fundamentals Banking and finance Competition and state aid Data protection and cybersecurity Dispute resolution Financial services Energy Environment IP Life sciences Regulatory TMT Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers EU fundamentals Council and Parliament adopt EU budget for 2026 The Council of the EU together with the European Parliament have now approved the EU’s 2026 budget. Commitments are fixed at €192.8bn, while payments come to €190.1bn. A reserve of €715.7m remains below the spending ceilings of the current multiannual financial framework (MFF), enabling the EU to react to unexpected events. This marks the sixth yearly budget within the 2021–27 MFF. See: LNB News 24/11/2025 32 and LNB News 26/11/2025 42. European Commission releases November 2025 infringement package The Commission has issued the November 2025 infringement package, outlining the EU Member States it is pursuing for failing to fulfil...

Germany and France call for a broader review of the AVMSD Germany and France are urging a more extensive, in‑depth reassessment of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) to secure a genuine level playing field across the market, irrespective of intermediaries or distribution channels. In remarks on the latest draft political statement designed to shape the European Commission’s forthcoming AVMSD revision, Germany argued for ‘an even more far‑reaching and fundamental mandate’ to address fairness in light of shifting market realities. Poland, which is steering talks in the Council of the EU, is assembling the statement with contributions from other member states, ahead of the review due next year. Adopted in 2010 and updated in 2018, the directive’s initial statement draft floated bringing video‑sharing platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok within scope of additional obligations, while the second and most recent text underscored the necessity of a level playing field in the distribution of advertising revenues...

This edition covers: Commercial Competition and state aid Data protection and cybersecurity Financial services Energy Environment Insurance and reinsurance IP Life sciences TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Commercial Court of Justice of the EU rules on (un)fairness of profit-sharing clause in minor athlete’s contract In a significant judgment, the Court of Justice has confirmed that EU consumer protection rules extend to agreements with minors in the sports arena. A term requiring a young sportsperson to surrender a portion of future earnings to a talent agency upon turning professional can be classed as unfair under Directive 93/13/EEC (the EU UTCCD) where it is not clear and comprehensible about the financial impact of the promise made. Staying consistent with its consumer protection stance, the Court once more underscores the centrality of transparency. As gifted youngsters are signed at ever earlier stages, the ruling is...

This Practice Note reviews the core definitions and terminology used to describe platform solutions, explaining the principal categories of platforms and the expressions commonly linked to them. It further sets out, for each of the principal EU legislative instruments, how the relevant definitions are framed to identify which entities fall within their scope and are therefore captured by those regimes. In-depth analysis of electronic data interchanges, or other platforms used to enable computer‑to‑computer exchanges of business or trading data and documentation, lies outside the remit of this Practice Note. This Practice Note does not address UK law; for information on legislation applicable to online platforms in the UK, see practice: Online platforms—introduction. For detail on the principal recent digital initiatives (Directive, Regulation and Code of Conduct) that online platforms ought to consider when trading, offering or providing services in the EU, or when they are established in the EU, see Practice Note: Key EU digital initiatives—summary. Online platforms In recent times, online platforms have experienced strong expansion in...

This Practice Note sets out a high-level outline of key media content regulation in the EU, spanning broadcasting, social media, video-on-demand (VoD) services, and the press and magazines. It concentrates on rules governing material that appears on these channels—a species of oversight that has markedly grown in recent years, reflecting the drive to, for instance, tackle illegal content on social networks. The regime cited in this Practice Note applies (or is expected to apply) across the EU as a whole. That said, individual Member States may have domestic regulators empowered to set additional, territory-specific requirements, much as Ofcom supervises media in the UK. EU audiovisual regulators are listed on the European Commission website. Although the legislation discussed here does not take effect in the UK, it is still relevant to UK businesses operating in the EU. Broadcasting (television and radio) Broadcasting is the delivery of programmes or information by television or radio. The EU AVMS Directive—Directive 2010/13/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808—sets out rules governing...

STOP PRESS: On 19 June 2025, the Data (Use and Access) Bill secured Royal Assent, transforming into the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025), with certain elements taking effect that same day. Provisions of DUAA 2025 addressing, among other things, replies to data subject access requests and the delegation of powers to make further regulations, commenced immediately on 19 June 2025. Other measures, covering notices issued by the Information Commissioner and particular facets of law enforcement processing, began on 19 August 2025 (two months after the date of Royal Assent). The greater part of DUAA 2025’s measures still await implementing regulations, in the form of statutory instruments, before they commence. Further commencement dates will hinge on those instruments being made first. Parts 5 and 6 of DUAA 2025 revise portions of UK data protection and ePrivacy law, including the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, SI...