In November, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) proposed new rules for the Eurovision voting system.
At Thursday's membership meeting in Geneva, broadcasters were asked in a secret ballot to vote on whether they were "sufficiently satisfied" with implementing the new rules without taking a position on the participation of any particular country. That proposal was passed by a "broad majority", according to a press release from the EBU.
The reactions were not long in coming. The television companies from Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain – all of whom had threatened a boycott – announced that they would not participate. Slovenia has also threatened a boycott.
There is no need to make a decision on participation in next year's contest right now. Iceland's television company has announced that it will discuss the matter on Wednesday. Belgium's participation is also unclear.
Sweden has voted through SVT to introduce the rules, says division manager Michael Österlund in a live broadcast.
"We think they contribute to what we have said before. We have said that we will continue to support it if there is broad European support," he says.
We have also said that it should be as apolitical as possible, it should be independent. It should also be safe to implement.
