European Union and Council of Europe Recommendations - The Protection of Minors and Human Dignity in the Media, and Rights of Reply

The purpose of this consultation is

a) to seek views on the European Commission's proposal for a Recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry (11138/04); and

b) to seek views on a draft recomm

This consultation has now ended. The consultation period was 27 August to 29 October 2004

endation by the Council of Europe on 'the right of reply in the new media environment'.

The UK Government has a particular concern about

Recital 8 of the European Commission's proposed Recommendation (document 11138/04, as attached below); and
Article 1 of the Council of Europe's draft recommendation (document MM-S-OD 2004, as attached below).

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Recital 8 proposes that a legally enforceable right of reply should apply to all media, including newspapers, magazines and other print media, radio, television and Internet. Article 1 proposes a right of reply 'offering a possibility to react to any information in the media presenting inaccurate facts …. which affect …. personal rights'.

This is an important and sensitive issue, and we are seeking your views in order to help develop as robust and thorough a position as possible to assist us in negotiating this issue with our European partners. We would also welcome any general or specific comments you may have on any other aspect of this material.

The following information can be downloaded:

ANNEX A (PDF 88kb), which gives more detail about this request.

ANNEX B (PDF 68kb), which sets out the background to the proposed EU Recommendation.

ANNEX C (PDF 71kb), which is a list of the organisations to whom we are writing.

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Also available to download are three EU documents:

98/560/EC (PDF 79kb) - the original 1998 EU Recommendation on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity.
9195-04 (PDF 191kb) - Proposal for a Recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry.
11138-04 (PDF 79kb) - Revised Recommendation on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and online information services industry.

one Council of Europe document