Bulgaria

[BG] Amendment in the regulations concerning the selection of General Directors of BNR and BNT

IRIS 2016-8:1/4

Rayna Nikolova

New Bulgarian University

On 20 May 2016, immediately after the election of the General Director of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on 17 May 2016, deputies of all Parliamentary groups submitted a bill for an amendment and supplement of the Radio and Television Act (RTA). According to the amendment, the General Director of BNR and the General Director of Bulgarian National Television (BNT) continue to exercise their rights after their mandates expire, until the new General Directors begin their duties.

On 2 June 2016, the text passed at the first and second reading in one plenary sitting, which is a precedent in the legislative practice of the National Assembly. The amendment was approved at the first reading without debates with 103 votes ‘pro’ and 12 ‘abstained from voting’. At the second reading the text was approved with 88 votes ‘pro’, 3 ‘con’ and 30 ‘abstained’. The amendment was released in the ‘State Gazette’, issue 46, on 17 June 2016, and entered into force on 20 June 2016.

The norm is taken from a text of the RTA, which says that the members of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) shall continue to perform their functions until the representatives of the Parliament and the President who replace them begin their duties (Article 29, para. 3 of the RTA). CEM elects and dismisses the General Directors of the public media in Bulgaria (Article 32, para. 1, item 2 of the RTA). The law does not explain the method of the election - by means of a competition or nominations of the members of the supervisory body. Over the years, the competition procedure has developed in practice. The main purpose of the bill is to provide legal opportunity for the regulatory body to strictly execute the election procedure by means of competition, so that a gap in the management of BNT and BNR is not formed if the three-year mandate expires during the competition procedures.

The mandate of the General Directors of BNR and BNT respectively is 3 years (Article 66, para. 2 of the RTA). The General Directors of BNR, respectively BNT, can be elected on the same position for no more than two consecutive 3-year mandates (Article 66, Para. 3 of the RTA). The second mandate of the General Director of the BNT expires on 1 August 2016.

CEM started a procedure for the amendment of the regulation for the election of General Directors of BNR and BNT. The amendment does not envisage a competition procedure.