In short, quota obligations stand for programming requirements to present European works and were introduced by the European Union as a protective measure against the films and television series flooding into its territory.

Its objectives in formulating and introducing these requirements were the following:

• boost European audiovisual programme production
• protect the European cultural identity
• preserve the values of European television and support high-quality European programmes
• secure a good position on the audiovisual market for programmes produced in Europe
• encourage the production of independent works by entities independent of the media service providers
• help create small and medium-size companies on the audiovisual market
• develop and support the European programme industry.

The cultural objectives were considered in parallel and in conjunction with economic considerations during the design of the quota regulations. This is due to the fact that the industry as a regulated area has both economic and cultural importance.

European outlook

European Union legislation requires member states to dedicate over 50% of their broadcasting time to European works and at least 10% of their broadcasting time to independent European works. Alternatively, member states may decide to spend at least 10% of their programme production budgets on European works created by producers that are independent of the media service providers. This should be achieved by ensuring an appropriate weight for recent works, i.e. works broadcast within 5 years of their production. The transmission time for news, sporting events, quizzes, advertising, teletext services and teleshopping is excluded from the calculation of both ratios.

The regulations of individual member states reveal the extent to which each adopted the shared European objective and applied the rules to their local, national purposes, namely supporting their own audiovisual industries.

Introducing the quotas in Europe resulted in imbalances across different countries, as states whose languages are spoken widely (e.g. the United Kingdom) or have neighbours where their languages are understood (e.g. France, Germany) have an advantage.

This legislation originated from the fact that France wished to protect its own television and film subsidy system from the arrival of large quantities of foreign audiovisual products. With this in mind, it is clear why French television regulation is more stringent than the European Union rules.

Interestingly, unlike France, Germany does not have national production quotas, but this did not have a detrimental impact on German television programme production. For example, in 2007 Germany produced television programmes worth GBP 4.5 billion, putting it in first place in Europe that year.

Most of the member states took advantage of the opportunity to use the standards in the Directive aimed at promoting the presence and production of European works in order to support its own national audiovisual industry, regardless whether the member state’s media market was large or small. The exception was Germany, where it was not necessary to create a separate national quota given its extraordinarily advanced audiovisual industry.

The national rules are mostly adopted as a language quota, i.e. they apply to works produced originally in the language in question (not dubbed). Elsewhere, the national quota is tied to the language of the programme makers (producers, performers). In general, the national quota rates in member state regulations tend to be higher for public service than for commercial media service providers. This is attributable primarily to the mission of public service but also to the historical fact that public service media provision is a state monopoly and, as such, it is the main client of any national audiovisual media industry.

The Hungarian regulations

Within Hungarian legislation, Articles 20–22 of Act CLXXXV of 2010 on media services and mass media (hereinafter: Media Act) define the obligations to present European works and also state the national quotas regarding Hungarian works. It is important to note here that the European works quota can be met with Hungarian works as well.

	Regulations on the linear audiovisual media services of media service providers	Regulations on the linear audiovisual media services of public service media service providers
transmission time dedicated to presenting European works	more than 50% of the total annual transmission time	more than 60% of the total annual transmission time
transmission time dedicated to presenting Hungarian works	more than 33.3% of the total annual transmission time	more than 50% of the total annual transmission time
transmission time dedicated to presenting European works originating in the past five years and produced by or obtained from a programme producer independent of the media service provider	at least 10% of the total annual transmission time	more than 15% of the total annual transmission time
transmission time dedicated to presenting Hungarian works originating in the past five years and produced by or obtained from a programme producer independent of the media service provider	at least 8% of the total annual transmission time	-

Further characteristics of Hungarian legislation

Compared to the earlier regulations, the Media Act substantially expanded the quota obligations and therefore the range of media services subject to the quota. Currently there are 320 media services that must meet the programming quota: these are nationwide and regional as well as local community televisions and radios, and on-demand services.

Based on the monthly reports submitted to it by the service providers, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (hereinafter: the Authority) investigates compliance with the programming quotas every year. The self-assessment reports received from media service providers and the experience of recent years shows that media service providers find it difficult to adhere to the programming quota stated in the Media Act. The media service providers frequently submit incorrect or incomplete data, their willingness to report fluctuates and they also have a problem with the coding of the country of origin of the programmes. If the Authority believes there has been a breach of the law, it launches official proceedings on the grounds of a breach of the quota obligations.

EU legislation requires the member states to verify compliance with the programming quotas. Accordingly, the NMHH Media Council produces biannual reports to the European Commission on compliance with the quota requirements in Hungary. The Commission informs the other member states and the European Parliament of the reports by the individual member states.

Ways for meeting the quota obligations

Presenting new Hungarian works subsidized by the NMHH Media Council in the Hungarian Media Patronage programme can help media service providers comply with the programming quota rules of the Media Act as broadcasting these works makes it easier for them to adhere to the legally required quotas.

By presenting the works supported by the Media Patronage programme, the providers can show the Hungarian viewing public important Hungarian cultural works and thus help preserve the values of Hungarian television production and develop and support the Hungarian audiovisual industry.

At the QUOTA Forum, the representatives of media service providers can meet filmmakers in person and see the works produced by new talent.