COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 27 September 1999

on the role of self-regulation in the light of the development of new media services

(1999/C 283/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. RECALLING 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(1) and the multiannual Community action plan on promoting safer use of the Internet by combating illegal and harmful content on global networks adopted by Decision No 276/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(2);

2. RECALLING the fact that the Commission, in its communication of 9 March 1999 on the results of the public consultation on the Convergence Green Paper, has noticed the relevance that self-regulation could have;

3. RECOGNISING that while self-regulation will continue usefully to complement regulation in all media forms in a number of Member States, it is appropriate here to consider the role of self-regulation in new media services;

4. TAKES NOTE

- that self-regulation systems have been developed for the media in most European countries some of which cover all media (press, broadcasting - sound radio, tv and advertising in all media), while others are restricted to individual media or new information and communication services,

- that there are significant differences between the ways in which different self-regulation systems are organised and complement or contribute to State regulation which reflect Europe's democratic, regional and cultural diversity,

- that self-regulation could usefully complement regulation in the context of the future development of new media services;

5. RECOGNISES

- that the definition of the public interest objectives and the choice of the best way to reach these objectives in this field remains inherently the responsibility of Member States, without prejudice to Community law,

- that media self-regulation systems, in accordance with national cultural and legal traditions and practices, may however make a contribution to safeguarding public interests;

6. WELCOMES the fact:

- that the Commission intends to present a more detailed set of regulatory principles in a communication in addition to its communication of 9 March 1999 on the results of the public consultation on the Convergence Green Paper,

- that the Saarbrücken expert seminar on self-regulation in the media organised by the German presidency has started the debate at European level on the possible contribution self-regulation systems may make to the achievement of public interest objectives, in particular in the light of the development of new media services;

7. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the experience with existing self-regulation systems in media policy, STRESSES the need:

- to analyse possible contributions, of self-regulatory systems on the new media services,

- to balance the strength and weakness of self-regulation systems,

- to deepen this analysis of possible contributions in particular by public consultations,

- to take into account the interests of third parties, in particular users, when considering self-regulation in the new media services;

8. INVITES the Commission, without prejudice to its Treaty prerogatives:

- to take account of the present state of discussion on the role of self-regulation in the light of the development of new media services when drawing up the communication mentioned under point 6, bearing in mind that it is up to each Member State to determine the possible complementary role of self-regulation to legislation,

- to facilitate future discussion on this subject by presenting, if necessary, updated information to the European Parliament and the Council.

(1) OJ L 270, 7.10.1998, p. 48.

(2) OJ L 33, 6.2.1999, p. 1.