Television broadcasting activities. 'Television without frontiers'

The amended Commission proposal incorporates, in full or in part, 25 amendments adopted by Parliament at first reading, but none of the most controversial ones. In particular, the Commission did not take up Parliament's proposal aimed at reinforcing broadcasting quotas and imposing quantitative restrictions on advertising. Neither did it take up the idea of the "violence-chip" which can filter out programmes which are harmful to children, although it agreed to certain programmes being preceded by warnings and accompanied by visual symbols. As proposed by Parliament, the Commission introduced a definition of a "television broadcast", i.e. a sequence, animated or otherwise, of images accompanied by sound or otherwise. It is specified that this must not in any circumstances be interpreted as extending the scope of the directive to cover new services such as video on demand and on-line services such as the Internet. It is also stipulated that the legislative framework relating to the new audiovisual services must be compatible with the directive's main objective - to create a legal framework for the free movement of services. Other noteworthy amendments incorporated in the amended proposal include: - rules governing the competence of Member States as regards TV channels; - the rights of third parties (national or non-national) to refer to the relevant national authorities in order to obtain actual compliance with the directive; - tele-shopping programmes and channels: partial alignment with the rules on content and presentation governing advertising; specific rules relating to certain products and audiences (prohibition of tele-shopping for medicinal products; increased protection for minors); - the idea that advertising and tele-shopping should not offend against philosophical convictions.�