Media Study - Medija centar Beograd

2.3.1 EU ACQUIS
The EU Acquis does not specifically regulate national broadcasting. However, public service broadcasters are
broadcasters with a public service mandate.
To fulfil this mandate, the public broadcaster benefits from license fees or, direct financial support from the State
or other sources such as revenues from advertising.
The Protocol on the System of Public Broadcasting in the Member States (Amsterdam Protocol) defines the
respective competencies of the European Union and the Member states in this field. While the definition of the
public mandate falls within the competence of the Member States at national, regional or local level, the
Commission's task is to review compliance with the provisions of the Treaty founding the European Union,
especially the State Aid rules in this area. The Principles are laid down in the Communication from the Commission
on the Application of State Aid Rules to Public Service Broadcasting (2001). A revised Communication was adopted
on 2 July 2009. The Commission is of the view that also funding by end user license fees amounts to state aid (a
view which is not shared by a number of Member States). The revised Communication has sharpened the focus on
accountability and effective control at national level by including a transparent evaluation of the overall impact of
publicly-funded new media services to be designed as public service. The question whether funding by license fees
amounts to state aid has not been explicitly addressed by the European Courts (Court of First Instance and the
European Court of Justice); Rulings addressing other subject matters allow conclusions on this question but point
into different directions.
2.3.2 COE STANDARDS
The Council of Europe dedicates significant attention to standards regarding the organization and functioning of
public service media. In terms of commercial media, the attention is mostly focused on content regulatory policy as
well as on media concentrations:
In the 2004 Recommendation on Public Service Broadcasting, the Parliamentary Assembly stressed that such
services are under threat by political and economic interests, by increasing competition from commercial media, by
media concentrations and by financial difficulties. It is also faced with the challenge of adapting to globalization and
the new technologies. It recognizes that the merit of public services is to operate independently of those holding
economic and political power. The same document underlines that the coexistence of public and commercial media
has largely contributed to innovating and diversifying the supply of content and has had a positive impact on
quality. It also urges that the situation concerning public service broadcasting financing be further clarified
following jurisprudence of the European courts.
For such reasons, the Assembly encourages Member States to define an appropriate legal, institutional and
financial framework for the functioning of public service broadcasting. In this respect, the Group of Specialists on
Public Service Media in the Information Society issued in 2008 a Report on how member stated should ensure legal,
financial, technical and other appropriate conditions required to enable public service media to discharge their
remit. For instance, a recommendation was made to design education and training programmes, adapted to the
digital media environment, for journalists.
In 2007, the Committee of Ministers adopted a Recommendation on Measures to Promote the Public Service Value
of the Internet.
2.3.3 ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
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