Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex X (Audiovisual Services) to the EEA Agreement - Draft common position of the Community -

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. Annex X (Audiovisual Services) of the EEA Agreement contains the following adaptation to Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the co-ordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities:

'The following shall be added to Article 15 of the Directive:

"The EFTA States shall be free to compel cable companies operating on their territories to scramble or otherwise obscure spot advertisements for alcoholic beverages. The scrambling shall not have the effect of restricting the retransmission of parts of television programs other than advertising spots for alcoholic beverages. The Contracting Parties shall jointly review this exception in 1995."'

2. The existing adaptation does not create an enforceable obligation to abandon the right to have the advertisements obscured. It has been agreed in the course of the review that as high a degree of homogeneity as possible without jeopardising the alcohol policy in the EEA EFTA States should be attained. Consequently, the scope of the exception has been curbed so as to cover only broadcasts whose main audience is in the EEA EFTA States.

3. The EEA Joint Committee should therefore adopt the attached decision to amend Annex X to the EEA Agreement.

4. Article 1(3)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establishes the Community position for decisions extending Community legislation with substantial changes.

5. The Council is therefore requested to agree to the attached draft Community position for adoption as an EEA Joint Committee Decision.

Draft

DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE

amending Annex X (Audiovisual Services) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as adjusted by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The review conducted by the Joint Committee according to adaptation (b) to Council Directive 89/552/EEC in Annex X to the Agreement has concluded that the exception provided for therein should be continued with a more limited scope;

(2) The Contracting Parties shall carry out a new review in 2003,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The content of adaptation (b) to Council Directive 89/552/EEC in Annex X to the Agreement shall be replaced by the following:

'The EFTA States shall be free to compel cable companies operating on their territories to scramble or otherwise obscure spot advertisements for alcoholic beverages in programmes of television broadcasters whose main audience is in an EEA EFTA State. For the purpose of assessing whether a particular programme or spot advertisement falls within the scope of this adaptation, importance shall be attached to the following factors, inter alia:

- Whether the broadcast is, de facto, primarily received in one of the EEA EFTA States

- Whether the goods or services advertised are available in the country of reception

- Whether the language of the country in which the broadcasts are received is used in the programmes or advertisements

- Whether points of sale in the country of reception are referred to or mentioned in the advertisements

- Whether the prices are quoted in the currency of the country of reception.

The scrambling shall not have the effect of restricting the retransmission of parts of television programs other than advertising spots for alcoholic beverages.

The Contracting Parties shall jointly review this exception in 2003.'

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on [1 January 2000], provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee.

Article 3

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, ... 2000.

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President F. Barbaso

The Secretaries to the EEA Joint Committee G. Vik E. Gerner