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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 13605 | 23 September 2014
Revision of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully
examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2036 (2014) on the
“Revision of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television”,
which it has transmitted to the Steering Committee on Media and
Information Society (CDMSI), for information and possible comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers notes that one of the main achievements
of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television was to set
binding legal standards in relations between European Union member States
and non-European Union member States which are parties to the convention.
It considers the discontinuation of the revision of the convention
as a serious step back from this perspective, but sees no possibility
to continue this work at the present stage, since it has been informed
by the European Union delegation that most issues covered by the
convention fall under the exclusive external competence of the European
Union and that the European Union does not have any intention to
become party to the convention. As the draft revised convention
contains a number of provisions which might not necessarily be in
line with the European Union acquis, individual European Union member
States would not be able to become party to the revised conventionif it were to be adopted.
3. Due to this regrettable deadlock, the Committee of Ministers
has not allocated any resources to work on the convention over the
last three years and sees no reason to review its position for the
time being. Given also the present budgetary context, it will not
presently consider the drafting of a new convention focusing on freedom
of expression aspects of media regulations.
4. As regards the Assembly’s request that the Committee of Ministers
draft guidelines on media freedom adapted to the changing media
landscape, the Committee recalls the guidelines contained in Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)11
on promoting freedom of expression and information in the new information
and communications environment, as well as the criteria for media
policy makers set out in Recommendation CM/Rec(2011)7 on a new notion
of media. The Committee of Ministers is fully aware that developments
in information and communication technologies and their application
to mass communication have led to significant changes in the media
system. As it has stated in the latter of these recommendations,
media-related policy must take full account of these and future
developments, embracing a notion of media which is appropriate for
such a fluid and multi-dimensional reality. All actors – whether
new or traditional – who operate within the media ecosystem should
be offered a policy framework which guarantees an appropriate level
of protection and provides a clear indication of their duties and
responsibilities in line with Council of Europe standards. The Committee
sees no reason to develop further standards on this topic for the
time being.