The EU Court of Justice has imposed a fine of €2.5m on Ireland for failing to transpose an EU directive on the provision of audiovisual services.
The breach relates to delays in bringing online video-sharing platforms under the scope of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), for the purposes of combating hate speech and protecting minors from harmful content.
The Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, is currently finalising an Online Safety Code to regulate video-sharing platforms but it will not be ready until later this year.
In its ruling, the EU Court of Justice said that in addition to the fine, it is also ordering Ireland to pay a daily penalty of €10,000 to the European Commission for as long as the failure to comply with the directive continues.
The deadline for transposing the directive was 19 September 2020.
The ruling notes that the deadline was missed by most EU member states but it also states that Ireland is the member state where the largest number of video-sharing platforms are established.
"Today, the Court finds that Ireland failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law, by neglecting to adopt the legislative, regulatory, and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by the deadline set out by the Commission, and by failing to communicate these provisions to the Commission," the ruling states.
"The Court also finds that Ireland has persisted in this failure, as it was not remedied by the day of the examination of the facts by the Court," it states.
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Big EU fine not unexpected and could have been worse
In its original statement announcing this ruling, the EU Court of Justice incorrectly stated that the lump sum penalty imposed on Ireland was €3m and that the daily penalty was €30,000.
The Department of Media said in a statement that Ireland accepts the judgment and will study it in detail.
"However, these fines are significantly lower than the maximum levels that were open to the Court to impose," the department said.
It also said that under the directive Ireland has responsibility for regulating video sharing platforms and streaming services that are established here for the whole of Europe.
It was therefore necessary not only to enshrine it in Irish law, but to establish a new regulator to oversee its implementation.
"This contributed to delays in the transposition process," the Department said.
"Ireland is completely committed to implementing the directive into Irish law. Full transposition will be achieved once Coimisiún na Meán adopts online safety and media services codes," it added.
