Ro
En
Рy
Olesea Stamate, chair of the Parliamentary Commission for Legal Issues, Appointments and Immunities, explained that she proposed the document for final reading “after corrections made by the Parliament’s editors.” “There were certain words, phrases that were considered inappropriate or needed to be changed. Respectively, at the intervention of the editors we propose practically the same text, with small adjustments,” the MP explained.
The draft law provides for granting to the Parliament the right to dismiss the members of the BC or of other authorities in case their activity is deemed incompatible with their obligations, prerogatives or duties. In accordance with the provisions of the voted document, the heads of the Competition Council, the Broadcasting Council and other state institutions will be sanctioned, including by dismissal, in case of improper performance of duties.
According to the authors, the current legal framework does not provide for levers to carry out real control over the activity of autonomous public authorities that are accountable to the Parliament or of their leaders. The MPs claim that the granting to the Parliament of right to dismiss the members of autonomous public authorities following the hearing of annual activity reports “is aimed at making the management of these authorities accountable to the Parliament.”
At the September 30 meeting of the BC, its president, Ala Ursu-Antoci, expressed concern about the amendments made to the Code of Audiovisual Media Services regarding the possibility of dismissing the BC members. “Unfortunately, the stated intention to improve the work of the Broadcasting Council is an attempt to politically subordinate the broadcasting regulator. This aspect was also noted by media NGOs, which expressed concern about the changes that will definitely not contribute to strengthening the independence of the Broadcasting Council, but on the contrary, will subordinate it to political will,” Ala Ursu-Antoci said.
Earlier, media experts criticized the initiative of MPs, having told Media Azi that the current regime could thus change the composition of the Council in its favor. Researcher Aneta Gonța does not rule out that the MPs’ proposals are determined by political interests. “I believe that the proposed amendments do not really change the quality of the BC, but are made so that any regime can change its composition in its favor. We, however, want a responsible appointment of members to the BC, who will act in the public interest, and the current law allows this,” Aneta Gonța also said.
Cristina Durnea, legal advisor at the Independent Journalism Center, is also of the opinion that “in the present situation, the MPs’ proposals raise numerous concerns in relation to the independence of the Broadcasting Council, since the accountability enforced through a poorly constructed legal mechanism can place the BC in the exclusive service of the political forces that have the parliamentary majority.” “In practice, this would mean that BC members who are undesirable to the power can be simply removed,” the lawyer said.
Media NGOs have expressed disagreement with and concern about the amendments made to the Code of Audiovisual Media Services to grant to the Parliament the right to dismiss members of the BC, collectively or individually, if the BC’s activity is deemed “defective” or if a member of the BC performs his or her duties improperly.
