23.11. 95 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 281/51 DIRECTIVE 95/47/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 24 October 1995 on the use of standards for the transmission of television signals THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 57 (2), 66 and 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3), Whereas, in Council Decisions 89/337/EEC (*) and 89/630/EEC (%), the Community recognized the strategic importance of advanced television and of High Definition Television {(HDTV) services for the European consumer electronics industry and for the European television and film industries and established the strategy framework for the introduction of advanced television and HDTV services in Europe; Whereas the objectives of the strategy for the introduction of HDTV in Europe are an integral part of the Community audiovisual policy, in respect of which the importance of Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (*) should be reaffirmed, and whereas they must take into account other objectives of this policy within the perspective of the development of Europe’s audiovisual capacity, which comprise structural objectives such as the development of production in countries or regions with more limited audiovisual capacity; Whereas Council Directive 92/38/EEC of 11 May 1992 on the adoption of standards for satellite broadcasting of (1) O] No C 341, 18. 12. 1993, p. 18 and O] No C 321, 18. 11,1994, p. 4. ’) Q] No C 148, 30. 5. 1994, p. 1. () Opinion of the European Parliament of 19 April 1994 (O] No C 128, 9. 5. 1994, p. 54), common position of the Council of 22 December 1994 (O] No C 384, 31. 12. 1994, p. 36) and decision of the European Parliament of 13 June 1995 (O] No C 166, 3. 7. 1995). ") O] No L. 142, 25. 5. 1989, p. 1. ) O] No L 363, 13. 12. 1989, p. 30. (%) O] No L 298, 17. 10. 1989, p. 23. television signals (7) set a regulatory framework of standards for advanced television broadcasting services for television programmes based on the HD-MAC standard (*) for European satellite and cable transmission for non-fully digital HDTV and the D2-MAC (%) standard for other not completely digital satellite and cable transmission in the wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio format; Whereas Council Decision 93/424/EEC of 22 July 1993 on an action plan for the introduction of advanced television services in Europe (') aims ar promoting the wide-screen 16:9 format (625 or 1250 lines), irrespective of the European television standard used and irrespective of the broadcasting mode (terrestrial, satellite or cable); Whereas Article 7 of Directive 92/38/EEC called on the Commission to report on the effects of the application of that Directive, on the evolution of the market, in particular on market penetration measured by objective criteria, and the use of the Community funding, and to make proposals to the Council to adapt that Directive to these developments if necessary; Whereas, in order to attain the Community’s goals as set out in the abovementioned Decisions and to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market, as provided for in Article 7a of the Treaty, in the broadcasting of television signals, it is necessary to take steps to adopt a common format for wide-screen transmissions; Whereas the wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio has been adopted at world level by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (') for HDTV and it is desirable and possible to develop the market for advanced television services and products having the same wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio; Whereas, for the purposes of this Directive, a wide-screen television service must meet the minimum requirements that it uses a transmission system delivering sufficient information to allow a dedicated receiver to display a full frame picture with full vertical resolution and whereas, 7 () O] No L 137, 20. 5. 1992, p. 17. (*) ETSI standard reference : ETS 300 352. (*) ETSI standard reference : ETS 300 250. ( 0 ( 1 8 19)0J No L 196, 5. 8. 1993, p. 48. MITU-R recommendation 709 defines ‘picture characteristics’ including the wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio.