Experts solicit amending the draft audiovisual code regarding the broadcasting license

The provisions of the draft Audiovisual code regarding the remittance and cancellation of the broadcasting licenses is one of the weakest parts of the draft, state several experts and jurists, who participated on Friday, May 19 at the public debate: “Draft laws: provisions regarding the activity of the private broadcasters”. The jurist Vladislav Gribincea declared that the draft Audiovisual Code, in the variant it was adopted by the parliament in first lecture gives excessive rights and obligations to the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual (CCA), regarding the remittance and cancellation of the licenses. According to him, this fact generates risks because the council might adopt arbitrary decisions. In order to avoid this risk, Gribincea proposed to introduce a new article in the code, which would refer to a contest for the remittance of the licenses. It would stipulate, among other thins, the obligation of CCA to justify its decisions regarding the winners of the contest and the rejection of other solicitations, as well as the rights of the participants to the contest to start legal proceedings against the decision of CCA. Several participants of the debates referred to the necessity of changing the terms of the broadcasting licenses. The draft Code stipulates that the broadcasting license for radio and cable TV services is of 6 years. The majority of participants declared for a longer period of the license for TV, justifying by the great expenses for creating a TV station and respectively the necessary time for its redemption. Although many opinions were presented, the participants came to a compromise. The participants to the public debates will send a proposal to the parliament regarding the approval of a 7 years term for all 3 types of broadcasters. Victor Osipov, councilor of the Parliamentary faction of AMN and the member of the Observers’ Council of the “Teleradio-Moldova” Company, referred to the necessity of regulating the number of the remitted licenses, depending on the possibilities of the market. The present CCA created an inflation of broadcasting licenses, especially in some regions of Moldova, considers Osipov. On the other hand, Constantin Partac, expert in the broadcasting area said that the liberalization of the market will allow the self-regulation of the situation, by the exclusion of the weakest broadcasters out of the this market so the state must not deal with this kind of limitations. The legislative initiatives regarding the audiovisual of Moldova constituted the theme for 3 public debates organized by the Institute for Public Policy, with the support of the Soros-Moldova Foundation. The summary national conference will take place on May 29 and 30, at the “Dedeman” hotel and will start at 10:00. At the conference a set of proposals will be drawn up and after sent to the specialized parliamentary conference. These activities will take place within the Press Freedom Days.