Deliberation relating to the conditions of appropriate visibility of services of general interest and the methods of collecting the information mentioned in article 20-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 relating to freedom of communication.
The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication,
Having regard to Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 10, 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services ("Audiovisual Media Services Directive"), as amended by Directive 2018/1808/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 14, 2018, in particular Articles 4(7) and 7a thereof, and Recital 25 of Directive 2018/1808/EU ;
Having regard to Directive 2015/1535/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of September 9, 2015, making provision for a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services, and to Notification No. 2024/0093/FR of February 20, 2024;
Having regard to Regulation 2022/2065/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Regulation on digital services), in particular Article 27 ;
Having regard to Act no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, as amended, on freedom of communication, in particular article 20-7;
Having regard to decree no. 2022-1541 of December 7, 2022 implementing article 20-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, and setting the threshold for triggering and the deadline for implementing appropriate visibility obligations for services of general interest;
Having regard to the responses to the public consultation on a draft deliberation on appropriate visibility measures for services of general interest in accordance with article 20-7 of the aforementioned Act of September 30, 1986, conducted by the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication between March 14, 2023 and April 21, 2023;
Considering the following:
1. The defense of plurality and the promotion of cultural diversity are objectives of general interest recognized by Union law.
2. Article 20-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 makes provision for the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication to specify the conditions under which appropriate visibility is given to services of general interest within the user interfaces defined in I of the same article. It also makes provision for "taking into account users' personalization capabilities, appropriate visibility may in particular be ensured by highlighting.
1. On the home page or screen ;
2. In user notices,
3. In user-initiated search results,
4. On schemes for remote control of equipment providing access to audiovisuel communication services.
The presentation used must also ensure that the service editor can be identified".
Article 20-7, III of Act no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 also makes provision for the Authority to determine the terms and conditions under which operators of user interfaces are to report to it on the measures they are implementing to ensure such visibility.
3. The purpose of the present deliberation is to specify the conditions under which appropriate visibility must be given to services of general interest on interface home pages, on the one hand, and in user notices and user-initiated search results, on the other.
4. It also sets out the reporting procedures referred to in III of the aforementioned article 20-7.
5. With regard to equipment already placed on the market prior to the date of publication of the present deliberation, the Authority will take into account, in assessing compliance with the latter, the time that interface operators may need to bring such equipment into line with the obligations arising from article 20-7, as well as, where appropriate, any proven and justified technological impossibilities or major environmental constraints.
After deliberation,
Decides :
Chapter I - Conditions for ensuring appropriate visibility of services of general interest
Art. 1 - The operations required by a user to access a service of general interest or an environment grouping together services of general interest may not be more numerous or of a more restrictive nature than those required to access any other audiovisual communication service accessible from the interface, subject to the consequences of its personalization at the sole initiative of the user, provided for in particular by the schemes put in place in application of article 27 of the European regulation on digital services.
These principles must also be respected when a user accesses a program that is part of a service of general interest.
Art. 2 - Within a user interface, services of general interest or the access point to the environment grouping them together appear in the same position as the best-exposed services.
Art. 3 - In the results of searches carried out by users and in the notices intended for them, services of general interest and their programs are treated in a fair and non-discriminatory manner in relation to other services and programs, and the service editor is identified.
In the results of searches carried out by users and relating explicitly to a service of general interest or one of its programs, and without prejudice to the schemes put in place in application of article 27 of the European regulation on digital services, user interfaces must first show the service or program originating from it, the stream of which is provided directly by the service editor or one of its subsidiaries or a subsidiary of the company controlling the editor within the meaning of 2° of article 41-3 of the law of 30 September 1986, unless an express agreement has been concluded between the editor and the interface operator, making provision for specific stipulations.
Art. 4 - The provisions of articles 1 to 3 apply to user interfaces whose operators are established in France or outside the European Union and appear on the list published annually by the Authority.
Art. 5 - After a case-by-case examination of the conditions of visibility of services of general interest offered on the user interface of a service provider established in another Member State of the Union and appearing on the aforementioned list, the Authority may approach the Member State in which the interface operator concerned is established if these conditions do not meet the requirements of defending plurality and promoting cultural diversity. At the end of this preliminary process with the Member State of establishment, the Authority will, where appropriate, inform the latter and the European Commission of the individual measures it intends to implement with regard to the interface operator concerned.
Chapter II - Procedures for collecting information on user interfaces
Art. 6 - Operators established in France or outside the European Union and included in the list of interfaces published annually must report to the Authority, by February 15th of each year, on the measures implemented during the previous year to ensure the visibility of services of general interest. These schemes also apply to operators of the interfaces included in this list, who have been the subject of individual measures taken in accordance with the conditions set out in article 5 of the present decision.
Chapter III - Final provisions
Art. 7 - The provisions of the present resolution are applicable in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna and the French Southern and Antarctic Territories.
Art. 8 - The present deliberation will be notified to the service editors listed in deliberation no. 2024-18 of September 25, 2024 concerning the list of services qualified as being of general interest, in application of the provisions of article 20-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 concerning freedom of communication, and to the operators of user interfaces subject to the obligations. It will be published in the Journal officiel de la République française.
Paris, September 25, 2024
For the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication :
Le président,
R.-O. MAISTRE
Deliberation relating to the conditions of appropriate visibility of services of general interest and the methods of collecting the information mentioned in article 20-7 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 relating to freedom of communication.
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