TVWF - General Provisions

General provisions (Chapter II)

Principles of jurisdiction (Article 2)

Since a broadcaster can not comply with the laws in two or more different countries at a time, there is a need to define which national law the broadcaster has to follow. Therefore, the Directive clarifies under which Member State's jurisdiction television broadcasters fall. This is determined mainly by where their central administration is located and where management decisions concerning programming are taken.

Freedom of reception and retransmission (Article 2a)

It is confirmed that, as a general rule, the Member States must ensure freedom of reception and must not restrict the retransmission on their territories of television broadcasts from other Member States.

Stricter rules possible (Article 3)

Since the provisions of the Directive are aimed to define a minimum set of common rules throughout the EU, Member States remain free to impose stricter rules on broadcasters under their jurisdiction. Besides that, each Member States has to enable third parties concerned – including nationals of other Member States – to refer to the competent legal or other authorities in order to ensure compliance with the directive.