Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protec...

Summary of the initiative

Objective(s)
The Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry is the first legal instrument at Community level governing the content of audiovisual and information services and the protection of minors and human dignity. The text invites Member States to "foster a climate of confidence which will promote the development of the audiovisual and information services industry by: the establishment of a national framework for self-regulation by operators of on-line services, taking into account the indicative principles and methodology described in the Annex. It also recommends that "the industries and parties concerned: (2) cooperate in the drawing up of codes of conduct for the protection of minors and human dignity applying to the provision of on-line services, inter alia to create an environment favourable to the development of new services, taking into account the principles and the methodology described in the Annex". More specifically television broadcasters were asked to try out new digital methods of parental control (such as personal codes, filtering software or control chips) and on-line Internet service providers are asked to develop codes of good conduct so as to better apply and clarify current legislation. The Commission is invited to facilitate international cooperation by networking the bodies responsible for self-regulation and the sharing of good practices in this area. The Annex to the recommendation offers indicative guidelines for the implementation, at national level, of self-regulation framework for the protection of minors and human dignity in on-line audiovisual and information services. These guidelines concern the consultation and representativeness of the parties concerned; the content of the codes of conduct and national bodies facilitating cooperation at community level and evaluation of the "self-regulation frameworks".

Description of the Initiative

Obsolete case
Sector

Sector

Commission DG
Communications Networks, Content and Technology DG: CNECT
Contact Point - Commission
INFSO A.1.

Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT
Year
1998
Title of Act
Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity, Official Journal L 270 , 07/10/1998 P. 0048 - 0055.

Geographical Coverage

Global coverage
Less than EU
Participating Countries
Austria

Description

Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
-
Target Group(s)
Television broadcasters and on-line Internet service providers.
Type of Instrument(s)
Codes of conduct.
Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
Member state
Type of Financing
Possibility to get support from Community financial instruments to facilitate the networking of the bodies responsible for the definition and implementation of national self-regulation frameworks and the sharing of experience and good practices.
Type of Monitoring
Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
European Commissionyes
National public authorityyesyes
International public authority
Private regulator (code owner)yes
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
The Commission is invited to facilitate, where appropriate through existing Community financial instruments, the networking of the bodies responsible for the definition and implementation of national self-regulation frameworks and the sharing of experience and good practices; to encourage cooperation and the sharing of experience and good practices between the self-regulation structures and complaints-handling structures; and to develop, in cooperation with the competent national authorities, a methodology for evaluating the measures taken in pursuance of this recommendation. The Commission was requested to present an evaluation report two years after the adoption of the recommendation.
Type of Enforcement
Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
Private Regulator
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
Court system
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
-

Results of Commission Monitoring

Year of last Monitoring Results
2003
Scoring
Positive
Link / Reference of Evaluation
<P>Second evaluation report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 12 December 2003 on the application of Commission Recommendation of 24 September 1998 concerning the protection of minors and human dignity (COM(2003) 776 final). </P>
<P>Note: The Commission has adopted two evaluation reports of the Recommendation on the basis of questionnaires sent to the Member States. The first one in 2001 on the basis of the invitation laid down in the Recommendation itself (Evaluation Report of 27 February 2001 (COM(2001) 106)), and the second one in 2003 on the request of the Parliament. The Recommendation was monitored, and not the self- or co-regulatory systems which may have resulted from the encouragement to the Member States. </P>