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In 2001, amendments to the Bulgarian Закон за радиото и телевизията (Radio and Television Act, see IRIS 2002-2: 3) were introduced by the Parliament. According to these amendments the operators broadcasting their programmes through cable or satellite became subject to a registration regime. However, the new provisions were added only in the licensing and registration section of the Radio and Television Act, but were not reflected accordingly in the section concerning the status of the electronic media. In November 2005, new amendments of the Radio and Television Act were adopted by the Parliament...

On 1April 2005 the major Bulgarian newspapers, public and private broadcasters, as well as private and public news agencies gathered to establish a joint Media Complaints Council to oversee the implementation of the Code of Ethics (see IRIS 2005-1: 9). The legal form of this new organisation will be a foundation with a board of seven persons: four of them representing the employers' organizations (ABBRO and UPB), and the other three representing journalists' organizations. To ensure that decisions are not taken with respect to unilateral interests, the voting majority required will be a qualified...

On 1 January 2005 the provisions of the Закон за здравето (Health Act) concerning direct and indirect advertising of alcoholic beverages in the electronic media came into force. The amended Article 55 reads as follows: “Article 55 (1) Direct advertising of alcoholic beverages is prohibited. (2) Indirect advertisements of alcoholic beverages and advertisements of wine and beer cannot: 1. be directed to persons below 18 years of age, as well as be transmitted in programmes or published in printed publications, designated for them; 2. use persons below 18 years of age as participants; 3. connect...

At the end of November 2004, representatives of authoritative Bulgarian media (including major daily newspapers, national and local broadcasters, the Bulgarian Publishers' Union, the Bulgarian Media Coalition, and the Association of Bulgarian Radio and TV Operators) signed an agreement on the Code of Ethics of the Bulgarian Media. The President Mr. Georgi Parvanov, Speaker of Parliament Mr. Ognyan Gerdjikov and Prime Minister Mr. Simeon Sakskoburggotski attended the signing ceremony. The Code stipulates that the media are aware of their rights and that they also recognize their responsibility to...

On 6 October 2004 the Commission published its report on Bulgaria as part of its series of regular reports on candidate countries' progress towards EU accession. The report includes an account of developments in the area of "Culture and audiovisual policy" as regards implementation of the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive. Bulgaria is criticised for still not having adopted a strategy for developing radio and television activities, a failure which hampers the issue of radio and television licences insofar as the regulatory authority responsible for issuing licences, the "Council of Electronic...