The European Commission has decided to refer Bulgaria to the EU's Court of Justice over the assignment of digital broadcast spectrum. The Commission found that the procedure followed by Bulgaria was based on disproportionately restrictive award conditions, leading to the exclusion of potential candidates. This hampers competition in the future Bulgarian digital terrestrial television (DTT) infrastructure market, in breach of the applicable EU Directives on electronic communications.

The European Commission is asking the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose a fine on Belgium because it has not correctly implemented EU telecom rules when awarding "must-carry" status to broadcast content, even after the Court's judgement of March 2011. "Must-carry" rules require cable companies or telecom operators to carry specified radio and TV broadcast channels and services where a significant number of consumers use them as their principal means to receive radio or TV broadcasts. The Commission is suggesting a lump sum calculated on the basis of €5397/day for the period between the first and eventual second Court ruling and a daily penalty payment of €31 251.20 for each day after the second Court ruling until Belgium complies with the judgment.

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.

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.

The European Commission today presented a report on the application of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The AVMSD enables the free circulation of audiovisual content and meets important public policy objectives such as banning incitement to hatred, protecting minors from harmful content and promoting European audiovisual works.

The answers to Europe's search for new economic growth may be closer to home than expected. The European Commission today released a study showing that, if the internal market for electronic communications were completed, the EU gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by up to 110 billion euros a year, or more than 0.8% of GDP. e-Communications is a critical part of overall efforts to build a digital Single Market. This "digital bonus" for EU growth would result from more competition, increased economies of scale for telecom operators, and the chance for every European to access all online content and services throughout the EU, such as music, movies and video games. For example, new and more efficient economic activity could arise from the ability to subscribe to TV from your home country when living abroad, the possibility of receiving healthcare monitoring from your local physician while on holiday, or a business using a single Cloud computing provider for offices in many EU countries.

Commissioner Neelie Kroes has assured Hungarians of her support for free and independent newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations. In a post on her personal blog, the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda committed to doing “all I can within my powers and with my own voice to ensure that Hungarians can participate in, hear and learn from the media of their choice.” Kroes reminded readers that in 2011 she had pushed for changes to the Hungarian Media Law and had achieved those changes. She also pointed out that 98% of Hungarians now have access to broadband internet and thus the opportunity to express themselves and access the opinions of others. Against the backdrop of new radio licences, she called for even more competition and suggested to overcome the restrictions of limited radio spectrum by vibrant new radio stations on the internet. This blog post by Commissioner Kroes in available in English and Hungarian.

The Commission is reflecting on the development of a European Accessibility Act containing measures to improve the accessibility of goods and services in the European market. This consultation is part of the preparatory data collection that will underpin the assessment of the impact of the measures. The consultation – itself fully accessible –is aimed at gathering views from businesses, people with disabilities and the general public and will remain open until 29 February 2012.

Vice President Kroes has formed and will today open a new forum of leading media figures to debate what the EU can do to help media fully transition to the digital era without losing its essence.

The European Commission has requested Belgium and the UK to implement outstanding provisions of the EU's Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive in Brussels and Gibraltar respectively. Belgium has notified the Commission of measures to implement the AVMS Directive as regards all audiovisual media services that are established in all three linguistic communities: French, Flemish and German. However, audiovisual on-demand services provided in Brussels in other languages than French and Dutch are not yet regulated. The Belgian authorities have informed the Commission that a draft law is being prepared but is still in a preliminary phase. The UK has also notified the Commission of measures to implement the AVMS Directive into national law. However, this law does not cover audiovisual services provided in Gibraltar. A draft law is under preparation, but the adoption process is still underway.

How Member States are implementing EU Recommendations ensuring children can enjoy the digital world confidently and safely are reviewed by the European Commission in a report presented today. Member States and industry are increasingly making efforts to implement EU Recommendations dating from 1998 and 2006 on the protection of minors using audiovisual and online services. But the measures taken have been insufficient overall.

The European Commission has written to eight EU Member States (Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg) seeking information about their implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive. The Commission has asked the Member States 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 issues raised vary from one Member State to the other. The requests for information do not imply that the Directive has been incorrectly implemented by the Member States concerned but simply that, at this stage, the Commission has some outstanding questions concerning their implementation of the Directive.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, will urge the EU's Council of Telecoms Ministers meeting in Brussels on 27th May to boost internet access in Europe by working with the European Parliament to adopt legislation to make radio spectrum available for wireless broadband by 2013. In addition Vice-President Kroes will present the Net Neutrality Communication to the Council and will discuss with the Council how to achieve the Digital Agenda goals of ensuring basic broadband for all by 2013 together with a higher level of digital inclusion by 2015. The Council is expected to agree to the Commission's proposal to prolong the current mandate of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) by 18 months, pending its consideration of a proposal to modernise and reinforce the Agency, and Vice-President Kroes will urge Member States to improve and strengthen their national cyber-security capabilities. Vice-President Kroes will also update Ministers over lunch on developments on roaming services in the EU.

The European research project GUIDE (www.guide-project.eu) is currently conducting an online survey on accessibility requirements for Web-TV platforms and applications. GUIDE is developing an adaptive accessibility framework and development tools for STB/Connected TV developers, and the results of this survey will support researchers in the project to better addres! s the needs and requirements of the industry. It mostly targets professionals of areas like broadcasting, IPTV, Web&TV application development, STB and Connected TV platforms, user interface design, research and standardisation. The survey is open until 14 February 2011.

The European Commission has decided to send a formal request for information to Spain over a new charge imposed on telecoms operators to offset the ending of paid advertising by the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE (Radio Televisión Española). The Commission is concerned that this administrative charge, based on authorised operators' turnover, may be incompatible with EU law because it does not appear to be related to costs arising from regulatory supervision. The Commission has also closed an infringement case on financing the universal service after Spain modified its national law.

The European Commission today has warned the Lithuanian national telecoms regulator, Ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT), that obliging terrestrial broadcasters to use specific suppliers to transmit their programmes constitutes a barrier to competition and prevents new terrestrial transmission service providers from entering the market. The Commission says that regulators no longer need to intervene in broadcasting markets in principal. However, RRT intends to continue regulating Lithuanian terrestrial broadcasting markets because of the exclusive market position that has been granted to transmission service providers Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos centras (LRTC) and TEO.

What is this case about? What has the Commission said in its letter sent today? What does the Dutch national telecoms regulator have to do now?

Two years after the adoption of modernising EU TV rules removing outdated restrictions on digital TV over the internet, video on demand and mobile TV, only three countries – Belgium, Romania and Slovakia – have officially notified the European Commission of measures putting them in place, as required under EU law. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS Directive) rebooted EU rules on traditional TV broadcasting for the digital age. EU countries had until 19 December 2009 to turn the modernised rules for Europe's audiovisual industry into national law. The Directive creates a single market for all audiovisual media services, providing legal certainty for businesses and protection for consumers.

What is this case about? What has the Commission said in its letter? What does the Dutch national telecoms regulator have to do now?

The European Commission decided today to close infringement proceedings against Italy and Estonia as both countries now fully comply with EU TV advertising rules. For Italy, the Commission had concerns over: 3 minute teleshopping messages not being counted in advertising limits and confusing viewers; TV stations' own promotional spots were not covered by Italy's legal definition of advertising; inefficient sanctions for breaches of advertising rules. The Commission also launched infringement proceedings against Estonia as TV channels were regularly breaking the EU's limit of 12 minutes of advertising per hour. The two countries were in breach of the EU's Television without Frontiers Directive.