Changes to the AVMS Directive are important for pan-European broadcast and on-demand services.

The European Commission proposed the directive amending the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (2010/13/EU) (AVMS Directive) in May 2016. Much has been written in the interim about the potential changes and stakeholders’ lobbying positions. This Client Alert summarises the key points that have been passed into European law. Part 1 of this Client Alert sets out a guide to the key changes, including increasing the scope of the AVMS Directive to cover video-sharing platform services, and clarifications to the establishment test. Those already familiar with the key changes should skip ahead to Part 2, which describes the introduction of a European works quota for on-demand services, and the possibility for Member States to impose financial duties on on-demand service providers. These financial obligations raise concerns both from a State aid point of view and ultimately for the integrity of the EU internal market in audiovisual services. Part 3 then deals with the “country of origin” principle and provides some observations on the impact of Brexit. The bedrock of the country of origin principle remains, but with the majority of European broadcast and on-demand services currently being licensed in the UK, businesses are already deploying Brexit contingency plans.