On November 23, 2020, the European Commission published a press release stating that it had launched infringement procedures against 23 Member States, including Italy and the United Kingdom, for failing to transpose the new rules set forth under Directive (EU) 2018/1808, which amends Directive 2010/13/EU (“AVMS Directive”).
In brief, the AVMS Directive aims to harmonize national legislation on audiovisual media services while contributing to the promotion of cultural diversity, providing an adequate level of consumer protection, and safeguarding media pluralism.
The deadline for transposing the provisions of the revised AVMS Directive into national legal frameworks was September 19, 2020. Nonetheless, to date only four Member States (Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden) have reported such transposition measures to the European Commission and declared their notification complete.
With regard to Italy specifically, implementation of the revised AVMS Directive is prescribed under Article 3 of the 2019 European Mandate Law. The European Mandate Law merely sets out an implementation framework, and implementing details are to be regulated in the ensuing legislative decree. The 2019 European Mandate Law has been approved by the Senate and will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies on January. Upon approval by the Chamber of Deputies, it will be published in the Italian Official Journal.
