A European directive dating from 1989, TWF is the main reference text for EU television broadcasters and lays down the conditions that a broadcaster needs to comply with to operate in the EU. It was introduced when the arrival of satellite television in the 1980s meant that it was increasingly possible for broadcasts to cross national frontiers; the television industry had always been organised along national lines. Developments in technology and markets since then have accentuated the trend towards internationalisation.

TWF contains rules for clarifying which country is responsible for licensing a broadcaster. Then it lays down certain conditions – subject to fulfilling these conditions, a television channel licensed by an EU state can transmit its services throughout the rest of the EU.

It’s important to remember that these are minimum conditions only, and that many European states impose much stricter rules on their broadcasters, such as in the UK through Ofcom’s Advertising Code.

There are detailed rules on the content of television advertising:

·    No advertising is allowed for tobacco or for prescription drugs, advertising needs to be separated from programmes and surreptitious or subliminal advertising is not allowed.

·    Nor is advertising allowed to discriminate on grounds of race, gender, or nationality or be offensive to human dignity or beliefs.

·   Advertising of alcohol, advertising to children, and programme sponsorship are all permitted only if detailed conditions are met. 

There are also rules on the amount of advertising, and the patterns in which advertising breaks are allowed to interrupt programmes, and on the maximum amount of teleshopping programmes.

The Directive is currently being reviewed. The European Commission is examining its effectiveness, and may propose changes some time in 2005, to any or all of the above rules. In particular, the arrival of many more channels, through digital television, and new media such as the Internet will need to be taken into account.