Who Regulates What? New Report Tackles Cross-Border Media Jurisdiction in Europe
Published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, the study by Olivier Hermanns sheds light on territorial jurisdiction issues and regulatory tensions across the EU media landscape.
New Report Dissects Cross-Border Legal Jurisdiction in European Audiovisual Regulation
The European Audiovisual Observatory has released a major new report examining the legal complexities surrounding media regulation in Europe. Titled Territorial Jurisdiction in European Audiovisual Law: Trends and Tensions, the 60-page study is authored by Olivier Hermanns, Senior Legal Analyst at the Observatory’s Legal Information Department.
The report provides a timely analysis of how national regulators across Europe determine their authority in an era where media platforms easily transcend borders — and where legal frameworks are often challenged by digital disruption, platform-based distribution, and geopolitical pressures.
A Cross-Border Conundrum
The opening chapter sets the scene by framing the current debates around media service providers that target audiences outside their country of establishment. It addresses how the country-of-origin principle — a pillar of EU media law — is being tested in practice.
Hermanns reviews the different territorial criteria used to establish jurisdiction under both EU law (notably the Audiovisual Media Services Directive) and the Council of Europe’s Convention on Transfrontier Television. He also dedicates a section to the post-Brexit reality of media regulation in the UK, which is no longer bound by EU legal frameworks but remains involved in transnational media exchange.
Enforcement, Cooperation, and Legal Gaps
The report then explores the mechanisms available to regulators to enforce decisions and monitor cross-border services. It examines the scope of national regulators’ authority to intervene in cases where media content crosses borders but doesn’t fall clearly under a single jurisdiction.
Another chapter focuses on legal cooperation tools among EU and non-EU regulators. It highlights how recent legislative initiatives — including the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the AI Act, and updates to the AVMS Directive — aim to streamline institutional cooperation and avoid jurisdictional clashes.
The fifth and final chapter tackles the broader implications for freedom of reception and retransmission in Europe, an increasingly fragile principle amid rising nationalist agendas and diverging regulatory interpretations.
Who Should Read It — and Why
Calling it “essential reading,” the European Audiovisual Observatory recommends the report for policymakers, regulators, legal experts, researchers, and stakeholders engaged in the governance of Europe’s media space.
As the digital era continues to blur the boundaries of national media oversight, Territorial Jurisdiction in European Audiovisual Law offers a valuable resource for navigating the legal ambiguities shaping the future of cross-border media regulation.