Spain

[ES] Catalonia Passes a New Law on the Conseil de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya

IRIS 2000-6:1/13

Alberto Pérez Gómez

Entidad publica empresarial RED.ES

The Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia has passed a new Law on the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC) in April 2000. The CAC is a specialized regulatory authority, with responsibilities in the audio-visual sector in Catalonia. The new Law changes the rules on the appointment of the members of the CAC Council, and it also establishes that the CAC will now have new responsibilities (e.g., sanctioning powers, including the power to impose sanctions for violations of the Spanish legislation implementing the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive by those broadcasters under its jurisdiction). However, other functions (e.g., the power to grant licenses or to appoint the Director of the Catalan public service broadcaster) remain in the hands of the Catalan Government.

In any case, it must be taken into account that, at the national level, nearly all the audiovisual powers (including content control, the granting of concessions or the ability to appoint or dismiss the Director of the national public TV) still belong to the Government, and that the only existing national regulatory authority with responsibilities in the audio-visual sector, the Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones, mainly deals with free competition in the audiovisual sector and with the enforcement of the Spanish legislation implementing Directive 95/47/EC.