Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2025) 1826
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notification: 2025/0368/BE
Notification of a draft text from a Member State
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MSG: 20251826.EN
1. MSG 001 IND 2025 0368 BE EN 10-07-2025 BE NOTIF
2. Belgium
3A. FOD Economie, KMO, Middenstand en Energie
Algemene Directie Kwaliteit en Veiligheid - Dienst Verbindingsbureau - BELNotif
NG III – 2de verdieping
Koning Albert II-laan, 16
B - 1000 Brussel
be.belnotif@economie.fgov.be
3B. Vlaamse Gemeenschap
Departement Cultuur, Jeugd en Media
4. 2025/0368/BE - SERV30 - Media
5. Draft decree amending the decree of 27 March 2009 on radio broadcasting and television as regards appropriate attention by user interface providers
6. In implementing Article 7bis of Directive 2010/13/EU, this draft decree imposes obligations on providers of user interfaces to devote appropriate attention to television broadcasting programmes and radio broadcasting programmes of general interest.
7.
8. This decree sets out a regulatory framework for appropriate attention to broadcasting programmes of general interest. In this decree, the obligation to devote appropriate attention rests on providers of user interfaces. The text therefore starts with a definition of ‘user interface provider’, referring to the definition in Article 2 (14) of the European Media Freedom Act. When applying this definition, the terminology from the Media Decree must be taken into account. Consequently, ‘media service’ should be understood as ‘broadcasting programme’ and ‘content’ as ‘programme’. The decision has been made to work with a broad definition so that future providers of user interfaces are also covered by the obligations of appropriate attention.
Providers of user interfaces must devote appropriate attention to broadcasting programmes of general interest, whether or not they are also providers of the terminal device on which the user interface operates. The following television broadcasting programmes are of general interest:
- Television broadcasting programmes from the VRT
- Television broadcasting programmes with special impact
- Broadcasting programmes from regional television broadcasting organisations
- Broadcasting programmes notified in accordance with Article 161 or 175 of the Media Decree
- Television broadcasting programmes from the non-linear television services referred to in Article 184/0
The following radio broadcasting programmes are of public interest:
- Radio broadcasting programmes from the VRT
- National radio broadcasting organisations
- Network radio broadcasting organisations and local radio broadcasting organisations
The Flemish government is delegated to determine the manner in which appropriate attention should be devoted to one or more of these broadcasting programmes and it will also be able to determine the degree of appropriate attention that will apply.
The obligation to devote appropriate attention applies to providers of user interfaces established in Flanders or the Brussels-Capital region and to those offering their services in Flanders. The decree contains a number of exceptions: the obligation does not apply to micro-enterprises, service distributors, broadcasting organisations that only offer their own broadcasting services, nor to providers of user interfaces that demonstrate that the implementation of the obligations is technically impossible or only subject to disproportionate expenditure.
Contractual freedom remains the guiding principle for rules on appropriate attention. However, the decree contains a number of minimum conditions that the agreements in this respect must meet. It is essential that negotiations between the parties concerned take place in good faith and that they give their consent in a reasonable and proportionate manner. In the absence of agreement on how appropriate attention is to be devoted, each of the parties may launch a mediation procedure.
In order to be qualified as a television broadcasting programme with particular impact, the broadcasting programme in question must meet a number of conditions relating to the diverse and pluralistic nature of the offer that must include, inter alia, informative and cultural programmes, the percentage of Dutch-language programmes, accessibility of the offer, the reach of the application that the broadcasting programme offers, the deployment of young and diverse talent by the broadcaster offering the television broadcasting programme and its investments in the external production sector and in the facilities sector.
The text introduces an additional sanction for non-compliance with the due diligence obligations: a fine of up to 6% of the global turnover of the user interface provider concerned.
A number of provisions introduced by this decree require additional implementing measures that will be laid down in a decree from the Flemish government. The decree will enter into force together with this decision.
9. Flemish broadcasting organisations form the backbone of Flemish identity. The stories they tell (from entertainment to fiction and from animation to non-fiction) contribute to community building. They do this by providing Flemish media users with access to broad, local, high-quality and original media programmes. They also help inform citizens by offering news and current affairs. Informed citizens are essential for the proper functioning of democracy. Against this background, a policy decision has always been made in the past to safeguard and encourage high-quality productions and guarantee a strong Flemish audiovisual sector from a cultural, democratic and social point of view.
However, it is not sufficient for local productions and news to be financed, produced and made available. If these local productions and news coverage are not visible and findable for media users, these programmes will no longer be viewed or listened to. As a result, broadcasting organisations can no longer fulfil their important role, with all potential consequences for society. In addition to the important social role of broadcasters that is then at risk of being lost, the lack of visibility and findability also has an important economic impact on broadcasters. Limited findability and visibility reduces reach, which in turn leads to less advertising revenue.
Media user access to content, both auditory and audiovisual, has changed considerably in recent years. This change is due to the shift towards more non-linear consumption of content and the emergence of new gatekeepers. Influential online platforms such as search engines and providers of user interfaces of mobile devices, smart TVs and smart speakers are increasingly acting as a conduit between media content providers and the public.
These new gatekeepers do not (always) have editorial responsibility, but may have a decisive influence on the content and information to which the media user has access by determining which content is the fastest or most visible and findable. Decisions about what will appear, for example, on the landing page of a smart TV or in the recommendations are determined by algorithms and editorial choices, but also by commercial considerations and agreements. Due to their greater financial strength, international streaming providers or providers of video-sharing platform services can more easily and on a much larger scale conclude commercial agreements with providers of user interfaces at the expense of local Flemish players with fewer resources and therefore fewer negotiation possibilities.
The above makes clear that the control of what media users see and hear shifts from the local broadcasting organisations to new gatekeepers. The risk is that, in particular, apps and content from international players or apps and content that are commercially viable or in respect of which these gatekeepers have entered into commercial agreements will be more visible and findable, with the local offer increasingly having to discontinue.
In order to examine how appropriate attention, visibility and findability for audiovisual and auditory media services of general interest in Flanders can be ensured, the Department of Culture, Youth and Media commissioned a study by imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. This study was an important source of inspiration for a new regulatory framework for appropriate attention, which has been added to the Media Decree through the enclosed preliminary draft decree.
10. Numbers or titles of the basic texts:
11. No
12.
13. No
14. No
15. No
16.
TBT aspects: No
SPS aspects: No
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European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
