Brussels issues an ultimatum against Spain for the delay in the new Audiovisual Law

The European Commission has issued an ultimatum against the Government of Pedro Sanchez due to the delay in the approval of the new Audiovisual Law, the standard that must incorporate into Spanish legislation the provisions of the EU directive on audiovisual communication services. The transposition deadline expired on September 19, 2020, but Spain still has not met.

After a first failed notice in November 2020, the Community Executive has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Madrid, the second phase of an infringement procedure, in which he claims to accelerate the deadlines. If the Audiovisual Law is still not approved in two months, Brussels could denounce Spain before the Court of Justice of the EU (TWENTY).

Once the opinion of the Council of State has been obtained, the Government of Pedro Sánchez expects to send the bill to Congress in October, with the hope to have it approved before the end of the year or the beginning of next and thus avoid ending up before the CJEU.

In addition to the case of Spain, the Community Executive has sent reasoned opinions against Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Slovenia and Slovakia. Brussels maintains that the delay in the transposition of the directive on audiovisual communication services prevents the citizens of these countries from benefiting from the improvements provided for in this regulation.

The directive aims to create a level playing field for the different types of audiovisual media services; beef up the independence of national media regulators; preserve diversity cultural, for example, by requiring that the services of streaming have at least 30% of European works available; or protect minors against harmful content in video on demand services.

The Commission has also sent a second reasoned opinion against Spain for the delay in adopting the European Code of Electronic Communications, which aims to modernize EU telecommunications rules, adapting them to the digital age. In this case, the transposition deadline expired on December 21, 2020, but the Government of Pedro Sánchez has not acted on time either.

Along with Spain, they have also been filed by Brussels, Estonia, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Holland, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Sweden.

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