Greece

[GR] New law implementing the EMFA on licensing of regional television stations

IRIS 2026-7:1/16

Alexandros Oikonomou

National Council for Radio and Television

Following the adoption of a law implementing the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) on public service broadcasting in November 2025 (see IRIS 2026-1:1/15), a new law,  enacted by the Greek Parliament on 11 June 2026, contains an additional disposition related to the implementation of the EMFA. This disposition relates to the licensing of regional television stations.

Law 5308/2026 creates, in compliance with Article 6 paragraph 2 of the EMFA Regulation, the National Database for the ownership of all types of media (newspapers, websites, radio and television media of all kinds, whether online or not). This database will register not only identity details but also the amounts received by these media from state advertising or other state resources.  The database will be administered by the General Secretariat for Communication and Information.

The main object of Law 5308/2026 is the licensing of regional television stations. In Greece there are 87 regional television stations which have been functioning since 1998 in a temporary “legal operating” status. This status has been contested by the High Administrative Court (IRIS 2011-1:1/34). According to the law, auctioning is no longer the method of licensing and has been replaced by an audit of compliance with certain conditions (minimum number of employees, content and paid-up capital). The evaluation of candidates by means of a points system (“beauty contest”) only takes place if their number exceeds the number of licence positions provided for each area. The law also provides for the payment by licensees of an annual amount in favour of the independent media authority, the National Council for Radio and Television (Εθνικό Συμβούλιο Ραδιοτηλεόρασης - ESR): EUR 60 000 (for the areas of Athens and Thessaloniki).

The new law introduces DVB-T2 as a new transmission system; this increases the capacity of each frequency and changes the number of licences available in each region. It stipulates that these licences will be issued for transmission in high definition. However, there is no provision establishing a clear timetable for the new technical transition.