Media Study - Medija centar Beograd

2.4.4 STAKEHOLDER BACKGROUND
Three institutions form the nucleus of the Serbian regulatory bodies – namely the Republican Broadcasting Agency
(RBA), the Republican Agency for Telecommunications (RATEL) and the newly established self regulatory Press
Council.
The Republican Broadcasting Agency – RBA
The Republican Broadcasting Agency (RBA) is established as an independent regulatory body by the Broadcasting
Law. It is headed by an Agency Council consisting of 9 members from different areas of societal life. The board
takes most of the relevant decisions itself. However, the administration appears to be heavily involved in preparing
decisions controlling the provision of formalities in received applications. The RBA’s competencies and
responsibilities include the following:
Passing the broadcasting development strategy;
The consistent application of the Media Law;
Licensing of broadcasters;
Setting conditions for the broadcasting of programs (as specified in the Broadcasting Law);
Prescribing rules to ensure the implementation of the national broadcasting strategy;
Supervising broadcasters;
Handling complaints;
Advising state bodies in relation to accession of international conventions on broadcasting;
Imposing sanctions on broadcasters where required;
Performing other duties under the Broadcasting Law;
Taking measures to protect minors;
Enforcing copyright regulation;
Taking actions against programs which incite discrimination, hatred etc.
The RBA has been implementing a policy according to which it allocated all available frequencies. This resulted in a
large number of broadcasters. Views have been expressed that – contrary to what it appears to assume – the RBA
was not obliged to allocate all available spectrum to broadcasters.
In 2006 when almost all licenses for broadcasting were allocated the RBA was strongly criticized for having
published the criteria for assessing license applications after the application deadline. Also it was accused of not
taking into consideration the quality of the programming for the individual applicants. 23
23 http://www.osce.org/documents/srb/2006/05/20006_en.pdf read 12.4.10. Jakubowicz, Karol LEGAL OPINION concerning the Decisions of the
Republican Broadcasting Agency Council of Serbia, on the allocation of broadcasting licenses for Radio and Television stations for the territory of
the Republic and for the territory of the Autonomous Province.
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