An Assessment of the Consistency of Hungary's Media Laws with ...

12 • Hungarian Media Laws in Europe
1/Media authority: independence
(CAC), 74 but members of the governing Bureau can only be dismissed by Parliament. 75 Hence,
the example above is incomplete, as it does not mention that grounds for dismissal are clearly
established in the law to safeguard against arbitrary or politically motivated dismissals of CSA
members by the Government and/or Parliament.
However there are several areas in which the Government or Parliament can exercise oversight
over or can directly and indirectly influence the work of the CSA. For instance, the Government
can ask the CSA to investigate a specific case of breaching the law— although the CSA is under
no formal obligation to address to these requests. 76 In addition, formal accountability procedures
include the obligation to report yearly to Parliament and/or the community Government regarding
the performance of its tasks and its finances. 77 The CSA’s annual budget, which is part of the state
budget, must be approved by the Government, and the CSA and Government also “negotiate”
a five-year plan (the current plan covers 2009-2013). The procedural rules for both the CSA
Bureau and the CAC also require governmental approval. In addition, the Government appoints a
representative responsible for safeguarding the good administrative and financial management of
CSA. 78
There have been some controversies in the past over politically appointed positions to the CSA—
for instance, the previous chairperson’s term was not renewed for what was reported to be political
reasons. In general, however, the appointment procedures mentioned have had a minor impact
on press freedom because the regulatory bodies are only competent for regulating the audiovisual
sectors and focus primarily on guaranteeing fair competition between providers and protecting
the interests of listeners and viewers (e.g. commercial communication), rather than on enforcing
content regulations.
Example cited by Hungarian Government: DENMArK
“Members of the Danish media authority (Medie- og tilskudssekretariatet) – including its
chairperson – are appointed by the Minister for Culture.” 79
Expert assessment Erik Nordahl Svendsen, Former director, Secretariat of Danish Radio and TV Board
This statement refers to the “Medie- og tilskudssekretariatet” (MTS) rather than the Radio and
Television Board (RTB), Denmark’s independent regulatory authority with powers over “all”
electronic media. The “Medie- og tilskudssekretariatet” (MTS) was formed in 2001 at the same time
as the RTB to serve as the RTB’s secretariat. By law, the MTS was never an authority with powers
74 Decree on Audiovisual and Multimedia Services Article 139, available in French at: http://www.csa.be/system/
documents_files/1440/original/20100101_D_cret_SMA_coordonn_.pdf?1299596452.
75 Decree on Audiovisual and Multimedia Services, Article 142, available in French at: http://www.csa.be/system/
documents_files/1440/original/20100101_D_cret_SMA_coordonn_.pdf?1299596452.
76 Decree on Audiovisual and Multimedia Services, Article 136, available in French at: http://www.csa.be/system/
documents_files/1440/original/20100101_D_cret_SMA_coordonn_.pdf?1299596452.
77 Decree on Audiovisual and Multimedia Services, Articles 146, 152 and 153, available in French at: http://www.csa.be/
system/documents_files/1440/original/20100101_D_cret_SMA_coordonn_.pdf?1299596452
78 Decree on Audiovisual and Multimedia Services, Article 152, available in French at: http://www.csa.be/system/
documents_files/1440/original/20100101_D_cret_SMA_coordonn_.pdf?1299596452.
79 “Reply to the criticisms expressed by the international media against the Media Act,” Ministry Of Public
Administration And Justice, January 3, 2011, available at: http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-publicadministration-and-justice/news/reply-to-the-criticism-of-the-international-media.