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On 16 May 2004, Belgium’s French Community and the French Republic signed a two-year renewable agreement aimed at supporting the co-production of cinematographic works. This replaces the 1962 agreement on cinematographic relations. According to the agreement, cinematographic works co-produced in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in it are regarded as domestically produced and thus reap the benefits associated with this classification. The conditions for enjoying these benefits are as follows: works must have been approved by each party’s competent authorities (the Centre du Cinéma...

By its Decree of 4 June 2003, the Flemish Parliament has retransferred the competence on licensing of radio broadcasters to the Flemish Government. The licensing of private radio stations in the Flemish Community was transferred in 1998 to the Vlaams Commissariaat voor de Media (Flemish Media Authority) as a depoliticization of the procedures of radio licensing, which until 1998 were decided upon by the Flemish Government and the Minister responsible (see IRIS 1998-9: 9). Recent practice however and new developments in policy are the bases of the decision to retransfer the decision making role...

On 17 April the long-awaited new decree on broadcasting came into force in the French-speaking Community of Belgium, replacing the old decree on the audio-visual sector dating back to 17 July 1987 and the decree of 24 July 1997 on the audio-visual regulatory body (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel ­ CSA) and private radio broadcasting services in the French-speaking Community (see IRIS 1997-8: 14). The new decree encompasses all the legislation on the audio-visual sector in the French-speaking Community with the exception of the public-sector service (RTBF), which remains governed by the decree...

In December 2002, the Council of Ethics of the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists was replaced, in the Flemish Community, by the Raad voor de Journalistiek (Council for Journalism). Journalists, publishers and broadcasting organisations are represented in the new Council. 6 of the 18 members have been co-opted from among judges and academics. The Council is a self-regulatory body without any disciplinary power. Its decisions are made public and are intended to encourage compliance with journalistic ethics. The first case decided by the new Council for Journalism concerns an interview...

Tax shelter is a national tax incentive in favour of the production and creation of Belgian audiovisual works. The scheme was introduced into Belgian legislation by the outline law of 2 August 2002. This law incorporated into the Income Tax Code an Article 194(b) under which a company resident in Belgium participating in the financing of an approved audiovisual work may, under certain conditions and within certain limits, have the advantage of a tax exemption in respect of its taxable profits amounting to up to 150% of the amount invested. In return for this tax break, the law requires the production...