Spain

[ES] Rejection of Bills on Appointment of Director of Public Broadcaster

IRIS 2001-9:1/15

Alberto Pérez Gómez

Entidad publica empresarial RED.ES

According to the Estatuto de Radio y Televisión (the Statute of Radio and Television) of 1980 (Act 4/1980), the Director of the national public broadcaster Ente Público de Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) is appointed by the Government (Article 10.1), which can also dismiss him/her (Article 12). Since the Statute was approved in 1980, many social and political groups have complained that the rules governing the appointment of the Director of RTVE have not been defined in a manner that insulates the Director from the risk of political interference. However, none of the governments that have taken office since 1980 has proposed any amendment of these rules.

In May 2000, two opposition parliamentary groups presented bills on the amendment of the rules governing the appointment of the Director of RTVE. Both Bills would have allowed for the appointment or dismissal of the Director of RTVE by a two-thirds parliamentary majority. The Bills were debated in May of this year and were ultimately rejected by the main party in the Congreso de los Diputados (the Lower Chamber of Parliament), the Partido Popular (the Popular Party - PP), as it considered RTVE's activities to be free from governmental interference. It also took the view that any amendment of the Statute of Radio and Television should have a wider scope and not merely focus on one specific aspect, such as the rules governing the appointment of the Director of RTVE.