Portugal
[PT] New Set of Auditions Delay Elections for the Regulatory Body
IRIS 2011-9:1/29
Mariana Lameiras & Helena Sousa
United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) & Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho
On 24 August 2011, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) delivered to the Parliamentary Commission of Ethics, Citizenship and Communication a requirement for the audition of four persons in the framework of media regulation and the performance of the ERC Regulatory Council during the past five years. The Regulatory Council is the main body of the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (media regulatory authority - ERC). The main objective is to provide information regarding the new model for media regulation and the mandate for the first Regulatory Council. Amongst the names for these auditions are those of the President of the ERC, the President of the Journalists’ Syndicate, the Director of Information of the private broadcaster TVI and the expert in constitutional issues, Vital Moreira.
This situation is delaying the election of the new Regulatory Council, since the mandate of their current members ended on 17 February 2011. This set of auditions was initially proposed by the PSD Parliamentary Group last February and is aimed at analysing the state of media regulation in Portugal before proceeding to the appointment of new members. Moreover, the objective was also to assess the need for changes in the current legal framework of the ERC, to identity the strengths and weaknesses of this regulatory body and to reflect on its functions and powers.
The process will now continue and the hearings will proceed, with three of the proposed auditions being scheduled for an extraordinary meeting on 16 September 2011.
References
- Agenda da reunião ordinária da Comissão Parlamentar para a Ética, a Cidadania e a Comunicação do dia 24 de Agosto de 2011
- http://app.parlamento.pt/webutils/docs/doc.pdf?Path=6148523063446f764c324679626d56304c334e706447567a4c31684a5355786c5a793944543030764d544a445545564451793942636e463161585a765132397461584e7a5957387654334a6b5a57357a4947526c4946527959574a68624768764c304e51525
- Agenda for the ordinary meeting of the Parliamentary Commission of Ethics, Citizenship and Communication of 24 August 2011
- Agenda da reunião extraordinária da Comissão Parlamentar para a Ética, a Cidadania e a Comunicação do dia 16 de Setembro de 2011
- http://app.parlamento.pt/webutils/docs/doc.pdf?Path=6148523063446f764c324679626d56304c334e706447567a4c31684a5355786c5a793944543030764d544a445545564451793942636e463161585a765132397461584e7a5957387654334a6b5a57357a4947526c4946527959574a68624768764c304e51525
- Agenda for the extraordinary meeting of the Parliamentary Commission of Ethics, Citizenship and Communication of 16 September 2011
- Requerimento apresentado pelo Grupo Parlamentar do PSD no dia 22 de Fevereiro de 2011
- http://app.parlamento.pt/webutils/docs/doc.pdf?path=6148523063446f764c324679626d56304c334e706447567a4c31684a544556484c304e50545338784d304e4655304d765247396a6457316c626e52766330466a64476c32615752685a4756446232317063334e6862793877595441784e6a64694d6931694e4
- Requirement delivered by the PSD Parliamentary Group on 22 February 2011
This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.