Cyprus

[CY] Harmonisation of the National Legislative Framework with the Television without Frontiers Directive

IRIS 2001-1:1/13

Andreas Christodoulou

Cyprus

During 2000, numerous efforts have been made in order to bring the legal order for the media of the Republic of Cyprus into line with European prerequisites.

As far as private broadcasting is concerned, Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities had already been transposed by Law 7(I) of 29 January 1998 "consolidating and revising the Establishment, Installation and Operation of Radio and Television Stations". Furthermore, Law 7(I) had adopted certain provisions of the Amending Directive 97/36/EC and had provided for the establishment of an independent Radio-television Authority responsible for the implementation of the legal framework concerning private broadcasters. The Cyprus Radio-television Authority was set up in May 1998. Finally, Law 7(I) contains anti-concentration measures and restrictions on cross-media ownership, regulates the equitable treatment of political parties and the operation of stations during state of emergency situations and provides for measures aimed at the protection of the national languages.

In addition, based on the above-mentioned Law, detailed Regulations were published in the Government Gazette on 28 January 2000. They set the legal framework for the procedures to be followed and the subject areas to be monitored by the Authority, such as journalistic ethics, advertising, teleshopping, the protection of minors and the protection of human rights. The Regulations contain, inter alia, a visual code for informing parents about the nature of the content of programmes and their suitability for being viewed by minors.

The remaining provisions of Directive 97/36/EC were included in Law 23(I) of 18 February 2000 amending the laws concerning radio and television stations.

The same procedure was followed for public service broadcasting. Law 8(I) of 29 January 1998 amending the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Law of 1959 (Capital 300) incorporated the provisions of Directive 89/552/EEC and certain provisions of Amending Directive 97/36/EC, while Law 24(I) of 18 February 2000 incorporated the remaining provisions of Directive 97/36/EC.

As regards the implementation of the provisions of the Directives, the Cyprus Radio-television Authority is preparing a report about the application of Articles 4 and 5 of the Directives concerning quotas achieved by the television stations vis-à-vis the proportion of European works and independent productions contained in their programming respectively for the period 1999-2000.

The Authority is also finalising the list concerning events of major importance to society as envisaged by Article 3a of Directive 97/36/EC and in Article 9a of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television of the Council of Europe.