Procedures for ensuring major sports and other cultural events are safeguarded for a mass television audience

Date: 06/02/1997

were outlined in a communication adopted by the European Commission yesterday (5 February). Audio-visual Commissioner Marcelino Oreja said countries should draw up their own lists of events regarded as of “major importance for society” which should not be screened exclusively on pay-per-view television. The list would then be vetted by the Commission. Oreja said that in order to be safeguarded, such events should be “outstanding”; not take place very frequently; and be of general public interest either throughout the Union, in one country, or even within a region. He refused to say whether football league games in any member state could be covered by this definition, but admitted that sporting federations and clubs would probably lose cash under the proposed new rules. The Council of Ministers and European Parliament will have to agree on a joint position on the proposal before changes to the current Television Without Frontiers Directive can be made.