14. 12. 2011

ANEM: REQUEST TO PARLIAMENT NOT TO ADOPT THE DRAFT LAW ON CINEMATOGRAPHY

Belgrade, December 14, 2011 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media has requested the Parliament of Serbia not to pass the Draft Law on Cinematography it has received from the Government for adoption. This Law provides for the reallocation of the funds collected by the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) and the Republic Agency for Electronic Communications (RATEL) from broadcasters and telecommunications operators to the film industry.

The explanation of the Government's Draft Law says that its passage will provide for significant additional resources that will boost the national film industry, among other means by obtaining part of the funds gained from the fees the broadcasters are paying to the RBA for broadcasting rights, under the Broadcasting Law, as well as the funds gained from the fees charged by RATEL to public telecommunication operators. More specifically, the new Law stipulates that up to 20% of the fees collected by the RBA and up to 10% of the fees collected by RATEL, will be allocated to the film industry.

ANEM believes that the passage of such Draft Law, without analyzing the effects it could have on the financing of independent regulatory bodies, as well as on the broadcasting and electronic communications sectors in Serbia, would be utterly irresponsible and harmful. ANEM has been insisting for years that the amounts of the fees paid by broadcasters to the regulatory agencies must be reduced so as to cover the reasonable regulation costs. Any other fee charged to the broadcasters, in excess of that, would lead to the collapse of the already impoverished media, which would, in turn, lead to a media blackout in Serbia.

While it understands the rationale of helping the development of the film industry, ANEM believes it is completely unacceptable to do it by reducing the funds that are the guarantee of the media sector regulators' financial independence. By providing for that up to 20% of the aforementioned fees be allocated for the development of the film industry, the amount of fees for broadcasting would inevitably go up; the same would happen with the prices of telecommunication services, if RATEL collected fees are reallocated. This is completely in contravention with the recently adopted Media Strategy, a document committing the state to work on the institutional strengthening of the broadcasting regulatory body and by regulating the financing of this body to enable its smooth and independent operation. The state also committed to encourage technological innovation in the media sector, as well as the development of new media platforms. All this is undoubtedly incompatible with the introduction of additional charges on the fees collected by telecommunication operators.

ANEM President, Sasa Mirkovic