Bulgaria

[BG] Amendments on the Radio and Television Act 2002

IRIS 2002-10:1/34

Kathrin Berger & Jacqueline Krohn

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

After the major amendment to the Radio and Television Act (RTA) in 2001 (see IRIS 2001-6: 4), further minor changes were introduced in 2002.

Politicians and media experts had previously been asked to rethink the changes to the formation of the regulatory authority, the clarification of procedures and licensing, equal treatment of providers, the independence of the public service broadcaster's management as well as its effective financing.

In 2002, article 8 paragraph 3 was incorporated into the RTA through an amending law (Law gazette N° 77/2002). The Parliament thereby enacted a law taking the form of a strategy for developing the activities of the radio and television broadcaster, which had been submitted by the Council for Electronic Media and the Commission for the Regulation of Communication. Moreover in the same law, new details concerning the licensing procedure were set out.

A further amending law (Law gazette N° 120/2002) provides that the Council for Electronic Media is to receive state funding for a limited time-period. Fresh financing is provided for the Bulgarian public service television and radio broadcaster. As of 1 January 2007, such financing is to be replaced by a special Radio and Television Fund, the organisation and administration of which will be also be determined nearer the time.