Romania

[RO] Modification of the Cinematography Emergency Decree rejected

IRIS 2014-7:1/32

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

The Chamber of Deputies (lower Chamber of the Romanian Parliament) on 3 June 2014 rejected the Draft Law on the modification of the Ordonanţa Guvernului nr. 39/2005 privind cinematografia (Government Emergency Decree no. 39/2005 with regard to the cinematography). The decision of the Chamber of Deputies is final. The Draft Law had been rejected by the upper Chamber, the Senate, on 6 November 2013 (see IRIS 2003-2/23).  

According to the rejected Draft Law, the public television, Societatea Română de televiziune - TVR, would have paid only 4% of its advertising revenues to the Cinematography Fund (instead of the 19% TVR is paying now). The initiators of the Draft Law intended to repeal Art. 17 of the Emergency Decree no. 39/2005, because they claimed that it discriminated against the public broadcaster, who is obliged to pay to the Cinematography Fund 4% of the above mentioned revenues [Art. 13 b)] along with the private televisions, but, at the same time, according to Art. 17 is obliged, to pay another 15% of its own ads revenues to the Cinematography Fund.

In addition, TVR can choose to directly finance the film production with up to 50% of the sum due to the Cinematography Fund, upon request of the film producers and after the notification of the Centrul Naţional al Cinematografiei (National Cinematography Center, CNC).

The Draft Law intended to ease the extremely negative financial balance of public television. In 2013, the ads revenues of Romanian Television were of 22,553,214 lei, the Romanian currency (EUR ~5,125,730). The total revenues of TVR were in 2013 of 543,982,979 lei (EUR ~123,632,500).


References

  • Propunere legislativă pentru modificarea Ordonanţei Guvernului nr. 39/2005 privind cinematografia - forma iniţiatorului
  • http://www.cdep.ro/proiecte/2013/400/80/5/pl810.pdf
  • Draft Law on the modification of the Government Emergency Decree no. 39/2005 with regard to the cinematography - form of the initiator


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This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.