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2013 - Continuity and Renewal of Regulation
ECONOMIC REGULATION: AFFIRMED APPROACH,
new prerogatives
Further-reaching means of action for the regulator
Optimal Airwave Management
Improved Regulation of Audiovisual Markets
AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA AT THE HEART OF SOCIETY
Political Pluralism: Outcomes of a Year of Transition
Social Cohesion and Equal Rights: the Structuring Role of Audiovisual Media
Public Broadcasting Regulation
DIGITAL AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA: ADAPTING REGULATION
TO NEW COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL ENVIRONMENTS
CSA GOVERNANCE
For the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, membership renewal, and in particular, renewal of the Chair, naturally mean new impetus and directions. Naturally, also, experience of members already present, and continuation of work under way, mean continuity. 'Evolving continuity' would therefore be an apt summary of 2013, were it not necessary to also highlight a strong regulation reform dynamic, to which each and everyone at the Conseil contributed last year; it will continue in 2014, for the benefit of the public, first and foremost beneficiary of communication freedom.
An in-depth review of audiovisual regulation—its purposes, approaches, and scope—in a world of global digital cultural exchanges, was carried out throughout 2013. All year round, meetings were held with all audiovisual partners to serve as input for this exploration; the Conseil met with editors, distributors, producers, and, more broadly speaking, the creators' side of the industry. Events such as Colloque des Indépendants radio, Assises de l’audiovisuel, Journées de la création, Assises de la radio,and numerous meetings at the Conseil, attended by Government members, clearly demonstrated the widely held view that the audiovisual industry's economic significance matches its cultural and democratic vitality.
This approach, based on dialogue and exchange, or, to put it simply, on communication about the future of audiovisual media regulation, bore fruit in several ways: the CSA's action was more systematically directed towards consultation and co-regulation; on the basis of proposals made by the Conseil, the Conseil's remit was expanded by Parliament under the law of 15 November 2013 relating to public broadcasting independence, to include economic issues.
While the CSA continued to play its traditional role in 2013, a genuine renewal of audiovisual regulation was initiated, so as to support the industry's economic development and digital switch, and to uphold principles, such as the rule of law and its associated social and cultural values.
This year's report relates these endeavours; it also includes, as did last year's report, legal and regulatory amendment proposals deemed necessary, in the CSA's view, as a result of developments in the audiovisual industry. The proposals also stress the need to broach the parallel codification of the law of 30 September 1986, and, more broadly, of audiovisual communication law.
2013 paved the way for developments in three main areas: foundation of new economic regulation; greater involvement of the media in the protection of social cohesion and equal rights; possible future regulation of new digital environments at the European and global levels.
ECONOMIC REGULATION: AFFIRMED APPROACH,
new prerogatives
In 2013, the CSA highlighted the need to overhaul the economic dimension of regulation; it advocated reformed approaches and means of action.
The analysis and proposals in both respects submitted by the CSA as part of its 2012 report were validated by the law of 15 November 2013, relating to public broadcasting independence.
Further-reaching means of action for the regulator
Adapting the economic dimension of audiovisual regulation to quickly evolving and long-lasting market dynamics is not a new concern on the part of the CSA. For its contribution to the discussion on audiovisual regulation adaptation—released in January 2013—the Conseil relied on several years of monitoring tremendous change in media and cultural industries brought by progress in information and communication technologies.
However, this year, we intensified our exploration of these developments; our central approach consisted in 'going back to the very notion of regulation'—as Olivier Schrameck put it—, and carrying out a thorough review of what is required for public intervention to take on a modern form.
The first finding of our review is that regulation is as complex and demanding an activity as the industries to which it applies. It requires: flexibility in how rules are formulated; anticipation of economic, social, and technological change; and, participation by all stakeholders in making the decisions that will shape their environment. Through enhancement and innovation, 2013 saw headway being made in these three essential areas of regulation.
Adaptable rule-making processes must be the first priority, in particular, following the Conseil d’État's 2013 seminal contribution on soft law. It is based on this spirit that the CSA strives to be as closely as possible in synch with the principles and rules defined by lawmakers, and why it follows a process of reiteration and adaptation to set the terms and conditions of their implementation. Soft law approaches, in particular, legal agreements (conventions) are increasingly common in many of the areas regulated by the Conseil (See infra II). We must now work on applying them to the most sensitive areas of the audiovisual industry; further down the line, they should also apply to digital environment (See infra III).
This is true in particular of audiovisual production pre-financing and financing obligations, which are a central feature of France's specific scheme for cultural industries (exception culturelle). Granting the regulator additional leeway in setting forth these obligations seems desirable, especially, as they are included in the operational legal agreements (conventions d'exploitation) entered into with editors. For instance, inter-professional agreements would no longer be the subject of a décret,once they have been reached. Negotiations could then take place on a regular basis, especially when legal agreements are being drafted or renewed. Such a streamlined and better organised hierarchy of normative documents would be consistent with the conclusions drawn by Mr. Jean-Pierre Plancade, on behalf of the Sénat'scommittee in charge of cultural matters, and Mr. Laurent Vallet, on behalf of the Minister for culture and communication, in their reports. Based on the analysis of our Audiovisual Production Working Group, chaired by Francine Mariani-Ducray, the CSA supports this motion, and included a proposal for a legal amendment in this respect, in this year's report.
When dealing with provisions governing the enhancement of French-language songs on the radio—another fundamental feature of France's exception culturelle—, flexibility is also required. Our Music Taskforce, also chaired by Francine Mariani-Ducray, conducted two studies on music in 2013: one, related to music on television; the second, to music on the radio. Both found that a change in the law was needed for a more dynamic musical industry. As regards radio, in particular, the quota scheme seems ill-adapted to changes in the French musical scene, prevailing genres and languages, and, rising new competing ways—other than radio—to have access to music. New schemes to promote French-language songs are needed, based, in particular, on musical diversity commitments. The Conseil proposes amending the 1986 law to that effect.
It is a known fact that a regulation scheme's quality is also dependent on its ability to forecast and anticipate. If it is to play the role of an efficient look-out, the regulator must be able to provide all stakeholders with an objective framework to apply to their environment, taking all specificities into account; the regulator must, also, be able to justify the rationale behind its decisions, in particular, those of an economic nature. In this area, again, 2013 was a particularly rich year.
The CSA's research activities were plentiful to start with: a series of surveys of the industry were carried out, focusing on issues of various natures: societal ones, such as diversity, women's representation, and programme quality; and cultural and economic ones, such as music on television, music quotas on the radio, day and access prime-time programming of fiction, etc.
In a greater number of instances, also, impact studies were made part and parcel of the decision-making process, so as to ensure greater economic certainty as a result of decisions made by the regulator. More specifically, the Conseil is now required, under the law of 15 November 2013, to systematically provide impact studies in support of its most significant decisions, such as any changes to the operational legal agreement (convention d'exploitation) entered into with national radio stations and television services. Under the law, impact studies have also become a requirement ex post; the impact of decisions dealing with airwave usage must now be assessed annually.
Finally, the third founding pillar of regulation is industry involvement. In 2013, wide-ranging consultations took place on multiple issues: the point was to bolster legitimacy of the Conseil's decisions and to bring sensitive negotiations to a successful completion. Our Ethics of Information and Audiovisual Programmes working group, chaired by Nicolas About, led consultations ex ante on the sensitive issue of war footage broadcasting, thereby paving the way for a recommendation to editors. Consultation also contributed to balancing relations between producers and broadcasters: the Conseil brought film industry representative organisations and the executives of channel Orange Cinéma Séries' together, so that they would determine together the most balanced conditions for the channel's contribution to film production, which were to be set forth in the new legal agreement (convention) the channel was due to enter into. The negotiation led to a compromise protecting both, the channel's economic sustainability, and the producers' interests. The CSA will henceforth consult with industry organisations prior to the renegotiation of other legal agreements. In this respect, last year was a remarkable turning point in the status granted to the production-side of the industry in audiovisual regulation. Producers and, more broadly speaking, creators, are now full-fledged negotiating parties with CSA. The law of 15 November 2013 confirmed this, giving the CSA a new conciliation role in disputes between audiovisual editors and producers, in particular as regards audiovisual works movement. Further opening the process to cinema producers, and making provisions for disputes between editors, now seem necessary. A legal adjustment to that effect has been submitted by the Conseil.
Providing for powers of action was needed to bolster audiovisual media economic regulation; extending the CSA's recognized jurisdiction is also necessary. Taking onboard the Conseil's submissions in its 2012 report, Parliament has set the stage for economic regulation by means of new legal tools, under the law of 15 November 2013; these, however, should be further enhanced, so that economic regulation may become a fixture capable of tackling contemporary broadcasting issues. This is true, in particular, of optimal airwave management, and regulation of relevant communication markets, both crucial issues for industry development.
Optimal Airwave Management
Audiovisual services may now be broadcast in many different ways; telecommunications networks are increasingly used for that purpose. In France, however, off-air terrestrial broadcasting remains key. This is due to the fact that it is universal and free; also, to the fact that France's scheme for financing new audiovisual and cinema works is largely based on it. In 2013, pressure on airwave availability, and the requirement to promote their optimal management, were felt in three main respects.
Enhanced Frequency Management Power
The law of 15 November 2013, relating to public broadcasting independence, provided for the much awaited reform of the CSA's powers to assign frequencies. Up until then, as soon as frequencies became available, the regulator had to issue an invitation for applications for licences to use public airwaves, without having the opportunity to evaluate whether it made sense from an economic standpoint, in order to achieve an overall balance between relevant audiovisual services. From now on, invitations for applications may be delayed for a once-renewable period of two years, in the event public consultation, or the impact study, reveal circumstances pleading against awarding new operators with a licence.
New Outlook for Off-Air Radio Broadcasting
During the Assises de la radio,an event jointly organised by the Ministry for culture and communication and the CSA, held on 5 November 2013, it became apparent that, when considering the future of radio as a broadcasting medium, airwave management was also the crux of the matter. The current frequency search policy must be reformed: following consultation of operators, consideration must be given to a possible densification of the FM band, to improve access to the most dynamic audience pools where novel supply is in demand. In the meantime, research carried out by the Conseil,in 2013, identified 150 additional frequencies. Invitations for applications have already been issued in relation to 17 of them, under the leadership of the Analogue and Digital Radio working group chaired by Patrice Gélinet. The approximately 130 remaining frequencies will be allocated in 2014.
Even though FM band off-air terrestrial radio is still primarily broadcast in analogue, and the subject of ramped up optimisation efforts on the part of the CSA, the progressive implementation of digital terrestrial radio continued, in 2013, on a pilot approach basis. Out of the 19 multiplexes hosting the approximately one hundred services selected on 15 January 2013 in the pilot areas of Paris, Marseilles, and Nice, 14 had been organised as of the legal deadline of 15 March 2013. In addition, following an arrêté issued in August 2013, DAB+ may now be used instead of T-DMB—the broadcasting standard initially selected for digital terrestrial radio. Notwithstanding technical changes underway as a result of the much anticipated adoption of DAB+—which enables a single multiplex to host a higher number of editors—, 20 June 2014 remains unchanged as the launch date for digital terrestrial radio, as set by the CSA. However, experience has shown that the current legal framework based on unanimity of participating editors, under which the digital terrestrial radio multiplexes have been organised, may result in obstacles going against the very principle of fair management of the multiplexes. The Conseil believes it, therefore, useful to propose a legal amendment of the framework. In the meantime, however, doors should be left open, so as to provide radio with a sustainable digital future. The Assises de la radio have shown that a wealth of innovations and projects exist: e.g., L Band projects, 'broadcast-broadband' development; they will be reviewed by the Conseil as part of its report on digital radio in France, to be submitted to Parliament in 2014.
Future of frequency band UHF; in particular around 700 MHz
While deployment of the six new HD DTT channels—launched in December 2012—continued, backed by communication in the field under the leadership of Board member Emmanuel Gabla, 2013 also saw initiation of talks, at government level, on the use of frequency band UHF, i.e., the backbone of digital terrestrial television. More specifically, the subject of the talks is the so-called 700 MHz band—which represents 30% of the total resource assigned to DTT—, and its possible allocation to mobile phones services. The indispensable HD switch of all DTT channels must be taken into account when considering this possibility, as 97% of métropolitains (mainland France) households have anonymous and free access to them, thanks to DTT; HD switch will require optimisation of released resource, which, in turn, will only be made possible by switching from DVB-T to DVB-T2. Given the issues raised, and how valuable a better use of public airwaves may be for all usages permitted by digital technologies, lawmakers have created the Commission de modernisation de la diffusion audiovisuelle(committee for the modernisation of audiovisual broadcasting), a joint parliamentary body, which will be consulted by the Prime Minister regarding any proposed reallocation of frequencies managed by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel.
Airwave resources turned out to be a very live issue throughout 2013. This will probably be the case again in the next years, given the significant economic value of frequencies used by audiovisual communication services. Policies adopted by Parliament, and by the Conseil, are but a first step. Giving the regulator the greatest possible leeway to assign frequencies would be highly desirable, and could be done by expressly giving the regulator the charge of managing the radio-electric frequency spectrum optimally. The CSA proposes a legal change to that effect as part of the changes it is invited to submit in its annual report.
Improved Regulation of Audiovisual Markets
The fate of a large transaction by a pay TV group to acquire several free-to-air channels remained pending throughout the year. In December 2013, the French Conseil d’État annulled the authorisation granted by the French Autorité de la concurrence (competition authority), in July 2012, citing, in particular, insufficient undertakings on the part the group to guarantee competition on French film rights markets. The CSA's own approval of the transaction, granted on the basis of the undertakings given before the Autorité de la concurrence, was, therefore, challenged.
This sequence of events has highlighted the need for better coordination between industry regulator and competition authority; this has led the CSA to further review its own market regulation tools. As stressed in its contribution to the discussion on adapting audiovisual regulation, and in its 2012 report, the CSA believes more complete competition regulation to be necessary to support traditional mechanisms wielded by Autorité de la concurrence,such as, merger control, and penalties for anti-competition practices. Thanks to the work of our Economics of the Broadcasting Industry and European Affairs working group, chaired by Emmanuel Gabla, the Conseil has developed strong competition review experience, acknowledged by our French and European counterparts; it should form an essential part of the economic regulation function, now given to the Conseil under the law. The Conseil wishes to be granted the whole range of responsibilities usually associated with this function, in order to exercise it fully. Several proposals to this effect are made to lawmakers.
AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA AT THE HEART OF SOCIETY
While it stressed the need to overhaul and enhance economic regulation of the audiovisual industry in 2013, the CSA did not neglect its charges to protect public liberties, promote social cohesion and diversity, and defend equal rights. Quite to the contrary, in fact; given audiovisual media's structuring power in building citizenship and collective representations, it was felt necessary to give new directions and impulses to these issues, based, in particular, on approaches such as, soft law, consultation, and co-regulation, and the great potential they offer.
Political Pluralism: Outcomes of a Year of Transition
Coming after intense activity, as a result of the presidential and general elections of 2012, 2013 was a year of transition as regards one the CSA's essential charges, i.e., guaranteeing political pluralism. Through our Pluralism and Electoral Campaigns working group, chaired by Francine Mariani-Ducray—and by Christine Kelly during the first part of the year—, the CSA continued to monitor pluralism outside of electoral periods, and monitored two important local polls: the first one was the renewal of Assemblée territoriale de la Polynésie française; the second, an unprecedented instance, was the consultation of voters of région Alsace, on structural changes to their regional authorities.
In parallel, the Conseil prepared the coming major elections of 2014: first, the municipal elections; second, the election of Members of the European Parliament. As regards municipal elections, the CSA supplemented its deliberation of 4 January 2011, relating to the principle of political pluralism on radio and television services during election periods, with a specific recommendation adopted on 20 November 2013. The additional text deals, in particular, with the specific cases of Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles, in order to ensure fair treatment among the various sections making up these constituencies. The recommendation also notes the rising influence of local television in political debate in the country, and makes it incumbent on local channels, as is the case of national channels, to account for the speaking-time given to the various candidates in their broadcasting area.
Social Cohesion and Equal Rights: the Structuring Role of Audiovisual Media
On the societal front, 2013 was also a busy year at the CSA: new actions were initiated; long-term ones were continued.
As regards new actions, renewal of the Conseil provided the opportunity to focus work more specifically on two sensitive issues: women's rights in the media; and, broadcasting's contribution to education. Two working groups were created: the Women's Rights working group, chaired by Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette, and the Broadcasting and Education working group, chaired by Mémona Hintermann-Afféjée. The groundwork laid by these two Board members over the course of the year is remarkable.
The Women's Rights working group focused on bringing out the deficit in women's representation in the media. It conducted surveys and hearings, and liaised with the Ministry for women's rights, in particular at the time of the review of the gender equality bill; we supported the introduction of a rule to achieve gender balance in the appointment of representatives of the State and of qualified personalities to the boards of administration of public broadcasting companies (sociétés nationales de programme).
In parallel, the Sports taskforce, chaired by Christine Kelly, highlighted the significant deficit of exposure given by broadcasting media to women's sports. A study was released following a year-long round of hearings of editors and professional sports representatives, and Les 24 heures du sport féminin, an unprecedented event, was organised at the initiative of the CSA, with the support of the Government represented by the Ministers for Women's Rights and for Sports, and the participation of professional female athletes: French broadcasters and French-language services put the spotlight on women's sports for 24 hours, as part of their programming.
For its part, the newly installed Broadcasting and Education working group set out to work on a dual objective: fostering both media literacy and education through the media. As a first step, a primer on audiovisual media and their regulation has been made available on the CSA's new Education and Media webpage since November. Regular updates are made. The education through the media webpage is under construction. In similar fashion, the working group is working on expanding and intensifying the CSA's contribution to Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation—a national contest, as part of which a special CSA award has been given to audiovisual submissions, since 2008. A symposium highlighting the CSA's traditional role in the defence and enhancement of the French language was also organised by Board member Patrice Gélinet, Chair of the French language and Francophonie taskforce. The full day conference held at Collège de France, on 9 December 2013, broached the 'Future of the French Language in Audiovisual Media', following a joint opening by Chairman Olivier Schrameck and Secretary-General Abdou Diouf of International Organisation of La Francophonie.
Another perfect example of the CSA's involvement in societal issues was a new project associating national channels to the celebration of French society's diversity. At Board member Mémona Hintermann-Afféjee's initiative, national DTT channels showed a clip celebrating this very diversity, on the occasion of the 14th of July. More generally, the Diversity working group, chaired by Mémona Hintermann-Afféjee, carried out wide-ranging novel activities in 2013. The latest round of the diversity survey (baromètre de la diversité) was very well-received, confirming its position as a key tool for the CSA's action is this area. The Observatoire de la diversité will provide the working group with further support. Working under the aegis of the CSA, its membership has been renewed by half; it is made up of prominent members of civil society and public bodies, in particular, a representative of the Défenseur des droits, an essential partner of the Conseil.
While undertaking these new actions, the CSA continued working in the areas of social cohesion, combating discrimination, and consumer protection.
By regularly monitoring programmes and taking action, where inappropriate content is broadcast—including content violating public order or human dignity—, the CSA provides valuable protection for listeners and viewers. 2013 was marked by dramatic events in the news calling for the implementation of mechanisms to protect youths, either as listeners or viewers, or as subjects themselves. One example of this was the tragic event at La Rochefoucauld school in Paris. As regards continuation of previous action, our Youths and Protection of Minors working group, chaired by Françoise Laborde, led the 'Protection of Young Audiences' annual campaign. The point is to open and maintain a conversation with parents and children on the risks of inappropriate programmes: information clips are broadcast, and a dedicated forum is moderated on the CSA's website, (See http://www.csa.fr/csajeunesse/).
The benefits of a co-regulation approach were visible in the signing, under the aegis of the CSA and the Government, of several charters associating the broadcasting industry to public policies. An important step was the renewal of the five-year charter to promote a healthy diet and physical activity in television programmes and advertising, also known as, the 'Food Charter'. Following a process led by our Health taskforce, chaired by Christine Kelly, six Ministries, including the Ministry for Social and Health Matters, have entered into the Charter with representatives of, editors, advertisers, the food industry, athlete associations, and obese persons associations. Commitments are made to increase the number of hours of programmes raising awareness about physical and dietary balance; and, advertising ethics in-line with the nutritional objectives of Plan national nutrition santé are agreed.
The charter process has been developed by the Conseil for several years; it is now used in a number of other areas, in particular, in relation to gambling and sports betting advertising. A charter has been signed, which sets forth ethical commitments on the part of editors, advertisers, and the online gambling industry main stakeholders. In the same spirit, a charter to foster recruitment and training of disabled persons in broadcasting companies has been entered into by major broadcasters and journalism schools, in the presence of the Minister in charge of disabled persons and combating exclusion. It is the practical translation of an initiative launched by Mémona Hintermann-Afféjee's Diversity working group, with the support of Nicolas About, Chair of our Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities working group.
Public Broadcasting Regulation
The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel's traditional role is to ensure performance of, obligations set forth in public broadcasting companies' terms of reference(cahier des charges), and of undertakings given by private operators in the legal agreements (conventions) they enter into with the CSA. Since its creation, the CSA had also been in charge of appointing the Chairs of public broadcasting companies, until the law of 5 March 2009 gave this responsibility to the President of the Republic. The appointments were then made with a favourable opinion on the Conseil's part , and subject to the relevant parliamentary committees' veto. The law of 15 November 2013 brought remarkable developments in these two typical areas of action for the regulator; the links between regulation and public service were strengthened, to the benefit of all.
As regards public broadcasters' terms of reference, following work done by our National Public Television working group, chaired by Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette, a new consultative role has been given to the CSA with respect to drafting, amendment, and performance of the contrats d’objectifs et de moyens (objectives and means legal agreements) (COMs) of France Télévisions, Radio France, and France Médias Monde (previously named AEF, until June 2013). Before the law was changed to that effect, the Minister for culture and communication had already requested the CSA to issue an opinion on a supplemental agreement to France Télévisions' COM. In the opinion issued on 11 September 2013, the CSA made 14 comments: it welcomed progress made by the group in the necessary restructuring under way; it also stressed the need for the group to, clarify its various programmes' editorial identity, be more pro-active in switching services to digital, and take even greater care to control its payroll costs.
Regarding the second issue, i.e., appointment of public broadcasting executives, the law of 15 November 2013 has returned this essential responsibility to the CSA; the Conseil constitutionnel deemed it a legal guarantee of media independence. The appointment process has been modernised: in addition to the requirement for the Conseil to provide reasons for its decisions, new legal requirements have been introduced. A strategic plan must first be presented by applicants; persons designated by parliamentary committees must subsequently present a policy document at a hearing. By restoring the Conseil's former jurisdiction, and expanding it to include review of the COMs, lawmakers have enhanced the Conseil's legitimacy and means of actions, as well as reformed the legal scheme applicable to public broadcasting.
digital audiovisual media: ADAPTING regulation
to new communication and culturAL environments
Digital technology is entirely changing the face of audiovisual communication: multiple broadcasting channels and resulting new usages, have deeply changed means of access and uses. This is the case, for instance, of secondary screens, giving rise to practices such as 'social TV', which the CSA studied in a preliminary review conducted by our Forward-Thinking Committee on the Future of Broadcasting, jointly chaired by Françoise Laborde and Francine Mariani-Ducray.
The CSA is keen to closely monitor the effects of the digital revolution on the broadcasting industry, and on the media's very nature. Objectives such as law and order, political and cultural pluralism, and media independence, should not depend on the channel used to distribute audiovisual content. As digital flows become global, cultural forums change, and powerful worldwide stakeholders emerge, that have tremendous bearing on information and culture. This is true, in particular, of large community sharing platforms and large digital service market places, such as application stores and on-line stores selling digital cultural goods.
New uses and new players, such as these, raise the issue of regulation's ability to uphold its objectives of pluralism and audience protection, which, in fact, directly benefit communication freedom. Regulation already applies to significant portions of digital broadcasting, as on-demand audiovisual media services were included in 2009. These diversified services, offering catch-up TV and video-on-demand, in pay-per-view or with a subscription, are governed by a décret adopted in 2010; the CSA supervises their regulation and involves them in the defence of principles, such as the protection of young audiences, and in policies to contribute to new original content financing. Following the law of 15 November 2013, on-demand audiovisual media services must register (déclarer) with the CSA, so as to facilitate our inventory and oversight. Around the same time, we issued our report to the Government on applying regulation to on-demand audiovisual media services. We underlined the need for streamlined, simpler rules to boost the French market. In particular, we propose to: calculate obligations to contribute to new original content production at editing group level; take all broadcast versions of on-demand audiovisual media services into account, whatever the medium; and, evaluate exposure obligations of European and French-language works on an annual basis. To enhance on-demand audiovisual media services' competitiveness, we propose to: take into account the role played by recommendation engines in giving works exposure on home pages; adapt the mandatory sequence of media releases (chronologie des médias) for cinema content to audiences' new usages and expectations in the digital age; adapt the AVMS directive to reflect the central position now assumed by distributors of digital services.
Throughout 2013, the CSA was very active in putting forward—for the attention of public authorities and new digital stakeholders—ways to adapt regulation to new digital environments.
First, building on the work of the taskforce headed by Pierre Lescure (mission Lescure), we suggested associating the Internet industry to the objectives of regulation on the basis of soft law mutual agreements, and by focusing on two main issues: protection of fundamental rights; and, ensuring supply diversity to promote our cultural specificity (exception culturelle). These were summarised as proposals for legal amendments in our report; they aim to adapt audiovisual communication categories to include services currently outside their scope.
Finally, if is to fully broach digital environments, media regulation must cross national borders. Foundations for a regional digital space must be laid at the European level, and unite around essential principles such as respect for human dignity and promotion of cultural diversity. The CSA's European activity was very intense in 2013: we launched a joint initiative with OfCom (Office for Communications), our British counterpart, to form a network of European Union regulators, which was lacking. The European Commission welcomed the initiative, and announced on 3 February 2014, creation of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA). ERGA will negotiate directly with the European Commission and the European Parliament to draft the future European legal framework for audiovisual media. On 3 March 2013, Olivier Schrameck, Chairman of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, was elected as Chairman of ERGA, until end of 2015.
CSA Governance
The newly-adopted law relating to public broadcasting independence marks the opening of a new era for audiovisual regulation. Parliament paralleled the new provisions relating to regulation with provisions relating to the regulator's structure. Our summary would not be complete, if we failed to address these developments. We have presented above the new provisions relating to the CSA's charges; below we present new provisions relating to the CSA's governance in the new statutory environment.
First, the number of Conseil Board members will progressively be reduced from nine to seven; the Chair will be the only Member appointed by the President of the Republic. Requirements relating to future members' experience and expertise have also been introduced. Appointment of the CSA's Chair will continue to be conditional upon a non-veto on the part of parliamentary committees in charge of cultural matters. Appointment of members designated by the Speakers of Assemblée nationale and Sénat, however, will be subject to approval by each house's respective committee at a three-fifths majority of votes cast. In order to ensure full compliance of the CSA's power to impose sanctions with constitutional and European requirements, with respect to due process and impartiality, lawmakers have provided for prosecution and sanction to be handled by two different entities. Prosecution will be handled by an independent rapporteur,appointed by the deputy Chairman of the Conseil d’État from among its judges. The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel has given its prior approval to the appointment of Mr. Régis Fraisse.
Second, the CSA's status has been modified from that of an independent authority to that of a public independent authority. The change is not simply a lexical one. To be effective, regulation must be reactive; lawmakers, therefore, have granted the CSA with greater administrative and financial freedom, so that human and budgetary resources may be adapted, as needed for regulation purposes. As a public independent authority, the CSA now enjoys legal personality; as such, it will be better positioned to set its own management priorities, according to the appropriations voted and evaluated on an annual basis by Parliament. For instance, it will make it easier for us to retain external expertise or recruit, depending on our needs at a certain point in time.
The CSA's new governance scheme is applicable as from 1 January 2014; it also provides for enhanced territorial presence.
The expertise of the comités territoriaux de l’audiovisuel (CTAs)—which act as regional branches of the CSA—will be further sought, in particular, in the context of impact studies relating to significant changes to local broadcasting conditions. More generally, given the very positive outcomes of their action since their installation in 2011, the Conseil proposes to give CTAs jurisdiction over all changes to operational agreements (conventions d'exploitation) submitted by local operators; their current jurisdiction is limited to, so-called, 'non-substantive' changes.
2013 was truly a year of continuity and renewal; both helped set clear objectives for audiovisual regulation: economic growth, and promotion of culture; both in favour of communication freedom.
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