The Draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the Broadcasting Code Discussed by the Relevant Parliamentary Commission

The Commission for Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sports and Media discussed on Wednesday, March 4, the draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the Broadcasting Code of Moldova (Law 260 dated July 27, 2006), with all subsequent amendments. The MPs voted unanimously to submit the draft Law to the Permanent Bureau of Parliament, for its inclusion on the agenda and voting in the second reading. The members of the Commission approved most amendments, except for the one providing that "The companies registered in offshore zones cannot be owners/ultimate beneficial owners of broadcasters".

Mrs. Corina Fusu (Liberal MP) explained why it was important that the amendment be included in the Broadcasting Code. "There is such provision already in the law regulating the banking system of Moldova; the same approach is needed for the broadcasting sector. It is a problem and we cannot pretend that it does not exist. Things are going very well in the countries that have adopted such a legal provision (Georgia, for example). The problem is that business people in Moldova will not accept it, for easy-to-understand reasons", said the MP.

In response, Kirill Lucinschi (Liberal Democrat MP), one of the authors of the draft Law, believes that the amendment on offshore zones cannot be adopted now, as it is not regulated at all in national legislation and, thus, it could not be implemented. "Currently, there are different types of offshore zones: semi-offshore, quasi-offshore. To make sure that the law covers them, several laws will need to be amended, including the Law on Business Activity; all types of offshore zones need to be covered there", specified the MP.

The amendment garnered only five votes and 5 MPs abstained from voting.

The Commission approved the amendment on "excluding the word "founder" and replacing it with "owner/beneficial owner". Also, according to the draft Law, private broadcasters will be required to disclose the following information: "name, address and contact details of the management, the names of the owners/beneficial owners, including their participation shares in the share capital, the list of board members and/or the name of the manager, the names of the program or broadcast producers, the radio signals, the TV channel’s logo".

The MPs also proposed that, within 10 days after the entry into force of the law, "broadcasters be obliged to publish the information on the website of the program service for which they have broadcasting licenses, as well as submit the information to the Council for Broadcasting Coordination, which in turn will be obliged to publish it within 15 days on its website".

If the draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the Broadcasting Code of the Republic of Moldova is approved by Parliament, it will come into force on 1 June 2015.

It should be reminded that during the last two years the Independent Journalism Center has consistently advocated the amending and supplementing of the Broadcasting Code, to ensure the transparency of media ownership by obliging radio and television stations to provide information about their beneficial owners to the Council for Broadcasting Coordination. These initiatives are meant to ensure compliance with European requirements to make sure that national legislation guarantees the right of the public to require access to information about a TV channel or other media outlet.

It should be reminded that the draft Law was adopted in the first reading in Parliament on July 21, 2014.