30. 07. 2014

Parliament to discuss media bills on Wednesday

By urgent procedure, the parliament is to mull the bills on public information, electronic media and public media services.

Once the privatisation of media companies is complete, they will be able to apply for state funds for content representing public interest in the information sector.

Over a period of three to five years after the privatisation, the programming structures and content must be retained, which will help the media to transition towards market-based operation and retain their programming concepts, which is particularly significant with respect to minority-language media.

The public media services bill envisions two public services - the Radio Television of Serbia and the Radio Television of Vojvodina - and guarantees their institutional and programming independence, defining the public interest and ways of funding the public services.

The bill would scrap the television subscription fee, while both media companies would rely on budget funds, which should ensure their stable operation until January 2016, after which viewers would pay a tax.

The proposed electronic media bill specifies the authority of the state over providers of audio-visual media services and the transition to digital broadcasting.

New technological advances will see all EU members make the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting by 2015, with content providers in the sector to be viewed as providers of audio-visual services, rather than as broadcasters.

On late Tuesday, the parliament concluded the debate on three economic bills - the bankruptcy bill and the bills of amendments to the privatisation law and the law on the procedure of registering with the Serbian Business Registers Agency.