Media Study - Medija centar Beograd

2.2 LOCAL ▪ MUNICIPAL ▪ REGIONAL BROADCASTING
2.2.1 EU ACQUIS
The EU Acquis does not specifically address public service regional radio and television, but the area reamains
covered under general provisions for public service broadcasting. Regional TV may by EU decisions be defined as
public service functions and eligible to funding through license fees 1 . Article 18 of the AVMS Directive exempts
broadcasts which are intended for a local audience and which do not form part of a national network from
’european content quota’ obligations. More broadly, the AVMS Directive acknowledges the growing importance of
diversity of opinion for societies and democracy. Although there is no direct reference in the AVMS Directive to
Local and Regional Media, these media can significantly contribute to diversity.
For Serbia the best practices as discussed for e.g. Austria, Denmark and Germany will offer discussions of some of
the typical legal, content and economic frameworks present among EU Member States. Best practices also imply
that independent media are not directly or indirectly managed by elected political bodies.
2.2.2 COE STANDARDS
As discussed later the Council of Europe stresses in its resolution 1636 (2008) Indicators for Media in a Democracy
of the Council of Europe that “private” media should not be managed by the state or state controlled companies.
In the appendix to the Council of Ministers Recommendation Rec (2003)9 on Measures to Promote the Democratic
and Social Contribution of Digital Broadcasting the Committee calls on Member States to seek ways of encouraging
a rapid changeover to digital broadcasting while making sure that the interests of the public as well as the interests
and constraints of all categories of broadcasters, particularly non-commercial and regional/local broadcasters, are
taken into account. In this respect, an appropriate legal framework and favourable economic and technical
conditions must be provided. This is of course very relevant when dealing with the transitional media landscape in
Serbia.
Recommendation 1228 (1994) 1 on Cable Networks and Local Television Stations calls for support for the efforts of
cable networks and local television stations in Central and Eastern Europe through the provision of production and
post-production material in exchange for programmes.
1 Please refer to Chapter 6, regarding state aid rules.
11