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In March 2018, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, referred to the Constitutional Court with a request to declare a specific part of the Radio and Television Act (RTA) as being unconstitutional (file no. 7/2018, rapporteur: Konstatin Penchev). This request concerned Article 24 (Amended, SG No. 47/2010, effective 22.06.2010): “(1) The Council for Electronic Media (CEM) shall consist of five members, of whom three shall be elected by the National Assembly and two shall be appointed by the President of the Republic. (2) The National Assembly resolution and the presidential decree...

On 13 April 2018, a bus travelling in the direction of Sofia overturned on the Trakia highway near Vakarel. Six people were killed, four people were left in a serious condition, and dozens were injured. The Council for Electronic Media (CEM) monitored the programmes of commercial media service providers (NOVA TELEVISION, BTV, CANAL 3 and EVROPA) and the programmes of the national public providers (BNT 1 and radio program HORIZONT) on 13 and 14 April 2018. The purpose of the monitoring was to assess (i) the media’s compliance with the requirements set out by the Radio and Television Act in respect...

Two amendments were made to the Radio and Television Act (RTA) in December 2017. One of the changes concerns the reduction of the administrative burden for applicants who want to provide media services. The amendments envisage for the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) to officially request (ex officio) electronically from the National Revenue Agency, the Customs Agency and the municipalities information for the respective candidate on the presence or absence of obligations to the public authorities, and they come into effect as of 1 January 2018 (published on 17 November 2017 in the Official Gazette,...

On 7 December 2016, the European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Romania and Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for their alleged failure to notify the complete transposition of the Collective Rights Management Directive (Directive 2014/26/EU) into their national laws (see IRIS 2014-4/4). The Directive aims to coordinate national rules concerning access to the online music sector by enhancing the workings of collective management organisations and by increasing transparency. The deadline for its transposition into national law was 10 April 2016. According...

At the end of September, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) accepted an amendment to the Rating Criteria of Content that is unfavourable for or threatens to impair the physical, mental, moral and/or social development of children regarding cinematographic works (See: IRIS 2012-2:1/10). The CEM announced them recently. The following differentiations have been made: - Cinematographic works, films and series, and other audiovisual works, which are not recommended for children under 12 years of age, may be broadcasted throughout the whole duration of media service providers' programmes.- Cinematographic...