Content

Our European activities in relation to content fall within Ofcoms strategic priority to provide appropriate assurances to audiences on standards of content services, and our major work area for 2012/13 continues to be to ensure efficient and effective programme standards enforcement. This relates in particular to providing adequate protection to audiences (particularly children) from harmful and offensive material, unfair treatment in programmes, or unwarranted infringements of privacy.

Our aim is to contribute constructively to the development of European legislation that impacts on our duties and responsibilities and affects UK citizens and consumers (e.g. the negotiations on the Audio Visual Media Services (AVMS) Directive in 2006-8). We do so by providing technical advice to the UK Government (DCMS) and working closely with the European Commission and other EU national regulators to ensure a consistent application of the EU regulatory framework.

We also aim to engage with relevant European Commission initiatives, including non-legislative ones. A recent example is Ofcoms response to the European Commissions Green Paper on the Online Distribution of Audiovisual Works in the European Union. Other examples include our contributions to consultations on the Creative Content Online Communication and Child Safety and Mobile Phones, and to the review of the Communication on the Application of State Aid Rules to Public Service Broadcasting

We are contributing to the European debates on Connected TV, the promotion of European works and advertising regulation, including the announced review of the Interpretative Communication on TV advertising.

Additionally, we will also be following the development of legislative and non-legislative initiatives that may impact on our duties around Online Copyright Infringement (OCI), and we will monitor and contribute as appropriate to discussions around online protection of minors, data protection and privacy, e-commerce, network and information security and cloud computing.

Related item: TV Information for Industry
 
The Contact Committee

Ofcom participates in the meetings of the Contact Committee alongside the UK Government. This Committee was set up to monitor the implementation of the Television Without Frontiers Directive (now the AVMS Directive) and developments in the sector, and as a forum for the exchange of views. It is chaired by the European Commission and composed of representatives from Member States (the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) represents the UK).

The Audiovisual Regulators Group (ARG)

The European Commission convenes a yearly meeting of the national audiovisual regulatory authorities in the EU to discuss the implementation of the AVMS Directive and also to gauge the regulators views on other Commission initiatives in the field of content regulation. Ofcom attends for the UK.

The European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA)

Set up in April 1995, EPRA is a network of European content regulators, providing a forum for informal discussion and exchange of views on the application of content rules in each jurisdiction. EPRA follows an Annual Work Programme and meets on a biannual basis. Current topics being discussed include local and community media, content regulation and new media, jurisdiction and licensing, regulatory approaches to news and current affairs, access to AVMS by the disabled and the future of commercial communications. Ofcom attends for the UK. The network represents an important source of information for Ofcoms own regulatory work, and there is regular contact between Ofcom and other content regulators throughout the year.

EPRA membership is open to any broadcasting authority in a Council of Europe country. To date, 52 regulatory authorities have become members. The European Commission and the Council of Europe are standing observers. The EPRA Secretariat is based in Strasbourg (France) and is hosted by the European Audiovisual Observatory. Meanwhile, the EPRA Board Association is in charge of administering and legally representing EPRA in its daily business. Ofcom has been a member of the EPRA Board since 2009, and in May 2011 was re-elected for a 2-year term.