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On 16 November 2006, the Portuguese Council of Ministers approved a Draft Television Bill. The Bill was open for public consultation until 15 December 2006 and aims at replacing both Act nº32/2003 of 22 August 2003 and Decree-Law nº237/98 of 5 August 1998. With this Draft the Government intends to detail the legal criteria for the granting and renewal of TV licenses, to adapt the legislation to technological changes (namely the introduction of Digital Terrestrial TV), to abolish the existing differences between the public service obligations imposed on state-owned channels (thus re-incorporating...

On 30 October 2006, the Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva promulgated Decree-Law 227/2006 of 15 November 2006 which implements Act 42/2004 of 18 August 2004 (the Cinematographic and Audiovisual Arts Act). This new Decree-Law details support programmes for the creation, production, distribution, and exhibition of cinematographic works and sets out the legal framework for the implementation of the Cinema and Audiovisual Investment Fund. This fund will exist for seven years (Article 65, nº1) and its financial endowment for the first five years is set at EUR 100 million (Article 66, nº1). Public...

The European Commission has approved the financial restructuring agreement signed between the Portuguese government and the public service broadcaster RTP in September 2003. This decision was reached after the restructuring plan was found to be in line with EC Treaty state aid rules. The agreement will run until 2019 and aims to progressively reduce RTP’s EUR 1 billion debt which was accumulated as a result of long-term under-financing of its public service tasks. Three reasons were found to have caused this chronic shortage of financial resources: the annual compensations payments received by...

On 22 March 2006, negotiations between the European Commission and the Portuguese authorities concerning the funding scheme of the Portuguese public service broadcaster were finalized. The Commission closed the investigation it had initiated towards the end of 2003 after receiving a number of commitments bent on improving both the transparency and the proportionality of the Portuguese financing system. Though Commission officials recognize that public broadcasters must benefit from stable financing, their prime concern is also to ensure that no market distortions arise as a consequence of the national...

On 15 December 2005, the Portuguese Parliament approved Law proposal nº 12/X creating both a listeners' ombudsman and a viewers' ombudsman for the radio and television public services (see IRIS 2005-7: 17). The Law proposal's main purpose in establishing these two new bodies is to promote independence from the State as well as public scrutiny in programming matters. According to article nº 6 (1) of Law proposal nº 12/X, both the radio ombudsman and the television ombudsman shall have the following competences: a) to receive and evaluate complaints and suggestions from listeners and spectators;...