Ireland is one of five countries being referred by the European Commission to the EU’s highest court for failing to transpose a directive on audio-visual services into national law.

Under EU law, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has the power to impose financial penalties on the five countries.

The commission said yesterday (19 May) that it had decided to refer Czechia, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain to the court over failure to transpose the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).

Standards

The new rules aim to ensure “a fair single market” for broadcast services across the EU.

The AVMSD provides EU-wide media content standards for all audio-visual media – both traditional TV broadcasts and on-demand services, in addition to video-sharing platforms.

The deadline for member states to transpose the directive, and inform the commission, had been set for 19 September 2020.

The commission had sent letters of formal notice to 23 countries later that year, followed by 11 reasoned opinions in late 2021.