The European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) held its semi-annual meeting in Budapest last week. Once the meeting was over, Russ Taylor and I met with Joan Botella, member of the CAC (Catalan Audiovisual Regulator) and president of EPRA since May 2005. Our meeting was fun and revealing. A full interview with Mr. Joan Botella will soon be posted in our Interview Series, but here are some nuggets:

• First and biggest news is that it has been decided that the Secretariat of EPRA will move from Dusseldorf (where it was initially hosted by the European Institute for the Media) to the European Audiovisual Observatory in Strasbourg. As is often the case, administrative issues monopolized most of the meeting.
• But there was still time for some substantial debate. Special attention was given to: public service broadcasting and state aid; product placement; and �not surprisingly� the TVWF Directive (and to a lesser extent, its sister document: the European Convention on Transfrontier Television).
• Note that EPRA does not issue common positions; rather, it is a forum for discussion and exchange of information between broadcasting regulators from 40 countries in Europe.
• We had the feeling that the majority of EPRA members are against the current approach to the revision of the TVWF Directive. Clearly, positions vary between different countries and the reasons why the UK or France oppose the current review are quite far from each other (UK wants less regulation, France wants more quotas. Usual stuff). A number of countries that want to keep a grip on the regulation of their national media oppose the country of origin principle and worry about circumvention. When it comes to broadcasting, there may be no such thing as a �common market�.
• Mr. Martin Selmayr (former legal advisor of Bertelsmann) and currently spokesman for DG Information Society and the Media was there in representation of the European Commission. He probably had a tough time, considering that the Liverpool conference last month was not what the EC would call a success. Recall Mrs. Reding�s speech?
• The mood seems to be generally defensive. Well, what else do you expect? There is less and less support for this revision among the Member States, industry and other stakeholders. It could end up being a big embarrassment for the European Commission.
• Mr. Botella pointed out another potential problem: No new Directive is expected before 2007 and in the meantime regulatory compliance with the current framework could be weakening (if you know that the rules will change and possibly be relaxed, you take them less seriously), while regulators turn a blind eye on some infringements (we have seen some evidence of this in the UK).
• The Commission has issued an interpretative Communication on televised advertising to offer some guidance as to how to interpret some of the (quite open) provisions of the TVWF Directive, providing some legal certainty for economic operators. Perhaps greater use should be made of this instrument for other matters too.
• With respect to the much criticized linear vs. non-linear distinction Mr. Botella joked: �They call non-linear what you call on-line!�

EPRA is certainly in good hands with Mr. Botella as president. He clearly has an excellent grasp concerning broadcasting and the future challenges faced by regulators.

More on this soon�Stay tuned!