On 13 June EU ambassadors confirmed an agreement reached on 6 June 2018 between the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament representatives on modernising the existing rules on the provision of audiovisual media services in Europe.
"Good policy-making involves ensuring that our rules are up to date and reflect modern technology. As a result of this agreement on audiovisual media services we will be better equipped to protect consumers and children, fight the spread of hate speech and safeguard media pluralism and independence."
Boil Banov, minister for culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and president of the Council
The proposal for a revision of the directive on the provision of audiovisual media services in the light of changing market realities (AVMSD) was presented by the Commission in 2016 after a thorough evaluation of the previous 2010 AVMSD.
This evaluation highlighted the need to ensure a level playing field between the traditional broadcasting sector i.e. television, and new services like video on-demand services, video-sharing platforms, and the audiovisual content on social networks, to better protect viewers, encourage innovation and promote European audiovisual content.