Whitehouse Communications delivered the EU public affairs campaign for WorldDAB, the global industry forum for the promotion of digital radio (DAB/DAB+), securing key amendments to the European Electronic Communications Code that mandate digital radio capability in new car radios sold across the European Union.
Following the European Commission’s 2016 proposal for the Code, and through sustained work with the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, the campaign closed with a Directive that mandates that all new car radios in the EU should be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio. Whitehouse Communications went on to oversee and influence the Directive’s implementation phase at Member States level on WorldDAB’s behalf.
The challenge
WorldDAB is the global forum for the promotion of digital radio DAB/DAB+, working to push for the adoption of DAB/DAB+ networks and services across Europe.
In mid-2016, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a European Electronic Communications Code. WorldDAB approached Whitehouse Communications with the objective of securing a key set of amendments to the Code to ensure that radios sold across the EU would need to have both analogue and digital capability, positioning digital radio for adoption at scale across Europe and preventing the market fragmentation that would result from a piecemeal, Member State-by-Member State approach.
Our approach
Whitehouse Communications ran the campaign across both legislative arms of the European Union: the European Parliament and the Council, developing clear, concise and evidence-based messaging that could work with key policymakers in both institutions.
The work focused on:
- Influencing the European Parliament report on the European Commission’s proposal for the European Electronic Communications Code.
- Influencing discussions in the Council between the Member States of the EU on the Code.
- Developing clear, concise and evidence-based messaging with WorldDAB to educate political stakeholders about digital radio and its benefits, and about the need for EU-level harmonisation to avoid market fragmentation.
- Engaging with key stakeholders across the Parliament and Council to secure a satisfactory compromise on the amendments that would deliver for the digital radio sector and for WorldDAB’s objectives.
The outcome
The key amendments were successfully adopted into the European Electronic Communications Code, which now mandates that all new car radios in the EU should be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio. The Directive then entered its implementation phase at Member States level, with Whitehouse Communications overseeing and influencing implementation on WorldDAB’s behalf.
The campaign delivered an outcome that materially exceeded WorldDAB’s own expectations. At the outset, WorldDAB was hoping for a mention of digital radio in the EU’s Digital Single Market Strategy; the campaign closed with a legally binding Directive covering every new car radio sold across the European Union.
