European experts criticized a series of provisions of the draft Audiovisual Code

The draft Audiovisual Code must be regarded as a sign of progress, but a series of issues provided by it contain serious drawbacks and require modifications and revisions. This is the conclusion of the experts of the Council of Europe Eve Salomon and Karol Jakubowicz on the project of the Audiovisual Code, adopted on the 6th of April by the Parliament. According to the expertise, placed on the official web page of the Parliament, quoted by Info-Prim Neo, the draft law of the Code must be regarded as a sign of continuous progress judging from the point of view of legal competencies certain authors, a clear wish ( even if not always fully accomplished) of adjusting the Moldovan legal framework in the field of broadcasting to the European standards and understanding the need to find legal solutions for the challenges faced by the broadcasting companies. An important feature of this project and the most welcomed one is the fact that it specifies the procedures and criteria of giving licenses for private broadcasting companies, this being a highly important evolution. But, on the other hand, this must be recognized as a proof of a very necessary effort for developing and perfecting the legal framework of the Republic of Moldova in the field of broadcasting. In this context, the draft law of the Code has some serious drawbacks, say the experts. Among them, they mentioned: The ability of the Government or governmental alliances to influence and control inappropriately the Audiovisual Coordinating Council and through it all broadcasting services, the Internet and especially the Public Broadcasting Company “ Teleradio- Moldova”; the lack of certain provisions that regard the local public broadcaster; the incomplete adjustment and sometimes wrong one to the European standards; the inadequate reglementation of issue related to property and pluralism etc. Referring to the way the members of the Coordinating Council of the Audiovisual are nominated, provided by the project – at the proposal of parliamentary parties with the vote of two thirds from the members of Parliament, the authors of the expertise say that “all this means that the political control over the broadcaster is written openly in the draft law of the Code. “ The experts proposed the complete revision of the Code in this domain. The focus must be placed on the involvement of the civil society in the process of nominating members of the Audiovisual Coordinating Council. The qualities and characteristics of potential members can be enlarged in order to assure the nomination of morally correct people, and the nominations to be regulated in such a way that the permanent presence in the Council of several professional and experienced members to be assured. The experts recommend clarifying and modifying the role and functions of the Audiovisual Coordinating Council, especially related to Teleradio Moldova, reflecting the elections and controlling the range of programs offered. In order to diminish the political oppressions on the Audiovisual Coordinating Council through the usage of the financing mechanism, a focus must be placed, at least partially, on additional financing sources from behalf of a tax for the broadcasting services. This tax can include money for license and an annual regulation tax, but no fees. The experts of CoE underline the fact that the draft law of the Broadcasting Code is focused mainly on Teleradio Moldova as a national broadcaster and doesn’t focus on the local public broadcasters. Given the fact that the project doesn’t mention these broadcasters, and doesn’t provide for a mechanism of transforming them, their legal statute remains unspecified. This is a serious drawback of the draft law, because they can easily be liquidated as being illegal, or privatized – even if the Code doesn’t provide for a mechanism for performing this. The draft law of the project must be modified at the chapter regulation of local public broadcasters and assuring their survival as broadcasting companies that are truly independent, conclude the authors. The experts say also that certain provision must be modified in order for them to correspond to the European standards, especially those related to the legal framework, highly important events, advertising, sponsorship and others. The representatives of the civil society, as well as politicians criticized the draft Audiovisual Code for the fact that it doesn’t exclude political involvement in broadcasting.