News

On 6 July, MEPs voted in plenary on the report of Mr Tamburrano (EFDD/IT) on the proposal for a regulation setting a framework for energy efficiency labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU.

Last week on Friday 1 July, the European Magazine Media Association, in cooperation with a coalition* of national, European and international journalist, publisher and press organisations, organised a press freedom conference in the Wroclaw Town Hall in Wroclaw, Poland. The conference “(R)EVOLUTION OF EUROPE’S PRESS” brought together 80 media experts, journalists, politicians, start-ups and technology experts from across Europe in order to examine how changing political priorities in Europe and technological innovations are impacting press freedom.

Last night in the Wroclaw Town Hall, Michael Ringier, Chairman of the Board of Ringier AG, addressed a high-level audience of approximately 60 media experts, journalists, politicians, start-ups and technology experts from 13 different countries at a dinner was hosted by the Mayor of Wroclaw, Rafal Dutkiewicz. This dinner set the stage for the “(R)EVOLUTION OF EUROPE’S PRESS” conference,which is to take place tomorrow, 1 July.

The 6th Future Media Lab. conference took place on 26 January 2016 in The Panoramic Hall at The Square in Brussels. This conference, titled “Technology and Media: Shaping the Future of Audience Engagement” covered one of today’s most crucial topics for Europe’s media. The full-day event included panel discussions, “reality check” presentations with facts and figures, a keynote speech, an interactive think-tank module with nine innovative start-ups and an interactive debate.

The media sector in Europe is facing an increasing number of challenges, and press freedom across the continent is being tested on numerous fronts.

On 14 June, MEPs of the Industry, Research and Energy committee voted on the draft report of Mr. Tamburrano on the proposal for a Regulation setting a framework for energy efficiency labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU. Despite great support from the EPP and ECR groups, the committee adopted a compromise amendment along with an addition that make it mandatory for all visual advertisements to carry the energy efficiency class of the product advertised (e.g. class A+, A, B, C etc.).

On 25 May 2016, the Council of the EU (ECOFIN) adopted conclusions on the VAT Action Plan “Towards a single EU VAT area”, published on 7 April by the European Commission. The Council notably “INVITES the Commission to present a legislative proposal which integrates provisions concerning VAT rates for e-publications in the context of Digital Single Market initiatives by the end of 2016 and include an impact assessment”.

Offering more advertising in primetime TV will negatively impact the financing of newspapers and magazines.

Two new public consultations launched by the European Commission last weeks are of high interest for the publishing sector.

Recently, the European Commission has published a roadmap in which it explains its program to evaluate the Consumer Rights Directive. This Directive was adopted in 2011 and became applicable in all 28 Member States as from the end of 2014.

Today, World Press Freedom Day, offers an opportunity to highlight the importance of defending press freedom worldwide, as it is an essential component of any democracy.

The European Magazine Media Association, in cooperation with an alliance of national, European and international media and journalist organisations, is organizing a conference, “(R)EVOLUTION OF EUROPE’S PRESS”, on 1 July 2016 in this year’s European Capital of Culture, Wroclaw, Poland. The event will bring together press publishers, politicians, journalists, academics, start-ups and technology experts to discuss a holistic view of real and potential threats for press freedom in Europe.

The German Federal Court of Justice today ruled that since publishers are not considered as rightsholders under copyright law they are not entitled to receive a revenue share from the German collecting society VG Wort.

For the second year in a row, EMMA is proud to support “Difference Day”, a celebration of journalism and freedom of expression organized by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bozar, iMinds and Evens Foundation.

On Thursday last week, the European Parliament plenary adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It will start to apply two years and three weeks after its publication in the EU Official Journal. The Regulation sets out a completely new framework for the lawful processing of personal data and will impact various activities of magazine publishers.

Today, the European Parliament adopted the Directive on the protection of Trade Secrets. European journalists and media associations are concerned that this Directive could put journalists at risk therefore limiting their ability to investigate and report about businesses. This comes at a time when the “Panama Papers” revelations have reaffirmed the essential role that journalists, whistleblowers, and media play in informing citizens about issues of public interest.

On Thursday, 7 April EMMA’s Honorary Vice-President Kevin Hand passed away following a brief illness. He was previously CEO of Emap and Hachette UK, former Chairman of EMMA’s British member PPA and an outstanding supporter of EMMA. We will all miss his advice and guidance as well his full-hearted support for EMMA. We will make sure to honour Kevin’s commitment to EMMA’s work over the last years and do express our condolence to the ones close to Kevin.

European newspaper and magazine publishers welcome today's announcement by Commissioner Moscovici of a specific proposal coming up this year to reduce VAT rates for e-publications, along with what was announced by President Juncker in May 2015.

EMMA, together with other European Newspaper and Magazine Publishers’ Associations - ENPA, EPC and NME - today welcomed the European Commission’s launch of a public consultation “on the role of publishers in the copyright value chain”. This consultation is an important step at a time when the role and the value of the press needs more than ever to be recognized in a global digital and media environment.

Following last month's Future Media Lounge session, "A media framework for the 21st century: is regulatory convergence necessary?", the Future Media Lab. team has produced a brief summary of the event, which looked into the reform of the European Commission's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).