The Romanian presidency of the European Union has endorsed a deal reached by EU government representatives and the European Parliament on the overhaul of the bloc’s copyright rules.
Romania said in a tweet that the copyright agreement had been approved by the EU Council.
The reform was agreed last week. It says Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc will be forced to share revenue with the creative industries and remove copyright-protected content on YouTube or Instagram.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, a majority of EU diplomats agreed to the revamp while Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland refused to back the deal and two other EU countries abstained.
The dissenting countries said the proposed changes could hinder innovation and hurt the bloc’s competitiveness in the digital market.
“We regret that the Directive does not strike the right balance between the protection of right holders and the interests of EU citizens and companies,” they said in a joint statement.
The next step in the process is a vote by a committee of lawmakers next week followed by a parliamentary vote either next month or early April before the changes can become law.
