The European Commission has launched the third and final public consultation in its review of the state aid criteria it uses to assess Member States' support schemes for films and other audiovisual works. The criteria are set out in a draft Communication, on which the Commission invites comments by 28 May 2013. The final Communication is due to be adopted by the Commission in July 2013.

Commission seeks views on rapidly converging audiovisual world.

The European Commission has launched 2 public consultations, open until 7th June 2013.

The final report of the High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism is now available. The report presents the findings and recommendations of the independent group chaired by the former President of Latvia, Professor Vaira Vike-Freiberga, with Professor Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Professor Miguel Maduro and Mr Ben Hammersley.

A new European Commission report has found most European film heritage institutions have not yet adapted to the digital revolution and are not yet able to preserve film digitally. Some of our current films are being lost to future generations forever, just like those of the silent era, where only 10% survived. At the same time films of the early digital era – because of formatting and interoperability issues – also risk being lost forever.

The European Commission has adopted seven new priorities for the digital economy and society.

The European Commission has today adopted a Communication which sets out parallel tracks of action to be undertaken during this Commission's term of office to ensure that the EU's copyright framework stays fit for purpose in the digital environment. It follows the Commission's orientation debate on content in the digital economy held on 5 December 2012 on the initiative of Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

Internet access and use is widespread amongst the EU population. In the EU27, more than three quarters of households had access to the internet in 2012, compared with just under half in 2006. The proportion of households who have a broadband internet connection has increased more significantly. In 2012, 72% of EU27 households had access to the internet via a broadband connection, compared with 30% in 2006.

The European Commission will use the opportunity of the annual global conference of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku (5-9 November) to defend the open Internet and promote the Internet as a frontline in efforts to ensure freedom of speech globally, including in Azerbaijan.

Joint Statement by Vice President Kroes (Digital Agenda) and Commissioner Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism & Youth) following MIPCOM roundtable in Cannes with representatives of the film industry – including distributors, film directors, producers, broadcasters and telecom operators – to discuss the opportunities created by the digital revolution for the distribution and financing of European films in the EU digital market.

"Today's adoption of the Orphan Works Directive is a significant achievement in our efforts to create a digital single market. It will enable easy online access for all citizens to our cultural heritage. The swift and successful outcome of the legislative process and the broad consensus reached both in the Council and the Parliament prove that by working together we can agree on measures to ensure that the EU copyright rules are fit for purpose in the digital age. Alongside other achievements such as the European Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the mass digitisation of out-of-commerce books, this Directive is one more step in making licensing and online access to cultural content easier."

The European Commission yesterday adopted its first report on the promotion of European works in EU television and on-demand audiovisual media services for the period 2009-2010. Almost 65% of TV programmes shown in Member States are of EU origin, meeting rule requirements (the Audiovisual Media Services Directive) for both television and on-demand services. However the majority of these European works are domestic works – meaning TV stations and video on-demand services overwhelmingly prefer showing local, nationally created programmes; the proportion of independent productions on television is declining.

Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle and President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Jean-Paul Philippot signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing closer cooperation in assisting the reform of public broadcasters in the countries that aspire to join the EU.

The European Commission has written to Portugal, Slovenia, Finland (concerning the autonomous region of Åland) and the United Kingdom (concerning the British overseas territory Gibraltar) seeking information about their implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive. The Commission has asked the responsible authorities to reply within 10 weeks. The fact-finding letters are part of the Commission's efforts to ensure that the national media laws of all Member States correctly implement all aspects of the AVMS rules. The requests for information do not imply that the Directive has been incorrectly implemented but simply that, at this stage, the Commission has some outstanding questions concerning their implementation of the Directive.

The European Commission has proposed measures to modernise collecting societies and put in place incentives to promote their transparency and efficiency. New digital technologies are opening up great opportunities for creators, consumers and businesses alike. Increased demand for online access to cultural content (e.g. music, films, books) does not recognise borders or national restrictions. Neither do the online services used to access them. This is where collecting societies come into play, in particular in the music sector, where they collectively manage the licensing of copyright-protected music tracks for online use on behalf of composers and lyricists and collect and redistribute to them corresponding royalties.

The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against France and Luxembourg because the VAT rates they are applying to digital books are potentially incompatible with EU law. EU legislation allows Member States to apply reduced VAT rates to a limited list of goods and services set out in Annex III to the VAT Directive. Downloading of digital books is regarded as a service supplied electronically, which is not included in this list and cannot therefore be taxed at the reduced rate.

Ahead of this week's European Council summit, the EU Media Futures Forum commissioned by Neelie Kroes has delivered a wake-up call to leaders about what they and the industry need to do to transform this sector – a sector employing 10 million people and the foundation of public debate in Europe. The groups outlines 8 bottlenecks in the Digital Single Market and 8 solutions – ranging from VAT treatment to broadband to copyright and cross-border journalism – with actions needed for the media sector to contribute to Europe's growth.

Representatives of the EU's ebook value chain met in Brussels today for high-level discussions on creating a digital single market for ebooks. Participants included Vice- President Neelie Kroes, and representatives from major publishing and distribution companies and platform providers.

The European Commission has decided to refer Poland to the EU Court of Justice for failing to fully implement EU audiovisual media services Directive. Poland has partially implemented the Directive but not the provisions concerning on-demand services. This means that providers of such services are not obliged to protect viewers, especially children, from hidden advertising (such as subliminal advertising) or from content containing incitement to hatred. Nor does Poland respect the rules on the European content of services provided on-demand. Poland should have implemented the Directive in full, including the rules for on-demand services, by December 2009.

Less than two weeks to the Digital Agenda Assembly, and the debate is increasing in both quantity and quality. Last week, the 40 people voted by participants as most "interesting" have been invited to the Assembly. The group on Converged media platform is discussing among other issues about the future of connected TV, analysing the opportunities on both the demand and the supply side. It also discusses how content can be financed as well as the necessary integration with social media. The group on Cloud is discussing the implications of the "industrialization of IT" both in terms of opportunities and risks. If you are interested in these or other issues discussed in the platform, join and contribute to the debate.