THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
 welcomes the amendment on derogations from the country of origin principle, which allow, in the context of clearer and simpler procedures, the interests of the destination country to be taken into account;
 regrets, however, that the new directive does not take the regional dimension into consideration as recommended previously by the Committee of the Regions;
 insists on the need to involve local and regional authorities in implementing the directive, as these bodies have a very important role to play in the area of audiovisual media services;
 reiterates that the independence of national regulatory authorities, both from public authorities, audiovisual actors and political parties, is a cornerstone of the European Audiovisual Media Regulation, which Member States are responsible for ensuring at all costs, and which is the primary guarantee of the diversity of information and a pluralistic media market at European, national, local and regional level;
 welcomes the fact that the revised directive extends its field of application to video sharing platform services;
 considers it appropriate, in the various ERGA procedures, to take account of the regional dimensions of certain regulatory issues and to reflect territorial principles;
 welcomes the fact that the revised directive bolsters and harmonises protection for minors;
 is concerned with the fact that the proposed regulation does not address transparency of media ownership, media concentration and conflicts of interest, all of which have a major impact upon media pluralism and media freedom;
 agrees that micro and small enterprises should not be obliged to contribute financially to the production of European works; asks the Commission to note, however, that many local and regional television stations broadcasting on their website in the form of on-demand audiovisual media services do not fall within this category