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Switzerland's official promotion of culture is based on Article 69 of the new Federal Constitution that came into force on 1 January 2000. To implement this provision of the Constitution, federal legislation on the promotion of culture (LEC) now needs to be drawn up. A steering group chaired by the director of the Federal Office for Culture (OFC) has been instructed to draw up a preliminary draft for national legislation on culture and to state the financial requirements this new legislation would involve. On 20 September 2002, the OFC submitted the working document drawn up by the steering group...

In 1997, Mr. Demuth complained to the European Court of Human Rights that the decision of the Swiss Bundesrat (Federal Council) refusing to grant Car Tv AG a broadcasting licence for cable television ran counter to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of expression). He considered that the refusal was arbitrary and discriminatory. In a decision of 16 June 1996, the Federal Council had decided that there was no right, either under Swiss law or under Article 10 of the European Convention, to obtain a broadcasting licence. With reference to the instructions for radio and...

At its meeting on 16 September 2002, the general assembly of the Landeszentrale für private Rundfunkveranstalter (Regional Authority for Private Broadcasters - LPR) of Rheinland-Pfalz issued an official complaint about the TV broadcaster SAT.1. The complaint concerned a commercial for alcoholic drinks, broadcast in summer 2001. SAT.1 SatellitenFernsehen GmbH broadcasts in Switzerland where, thanks to the increasing freedom granted by the LPR, it is able to broadcast special advertising windows. The LPR's permission is conditional on the Swiss advertising windows being subject to Swiss law. According...

The Swiss Bundesrat (Council of Ministers) has decided to open for discussion proposals for a partial revision of the Fernmeldegesetz (Telecommunications Act - FMG) and the Fernmeldediensteverordnung (Teleservices DecreeFDV). The discussion phase forms part of the legislative process in Switzerland. Unbundling of the local loop is to be made compulsory by decree. The Bundesrat considers the legal basis set out in the FMG to be sufficient to regulate leased lines and all three types of unbundling by means of official decrees. The proposal for a revised FMG sets out a number of firmer regulatory...

In 1991, Switzerland was the first country that was not a Member State of the European Union to join the EU's MEDIA programme, designed to promote the cinema. Following the rejection by the Swiss people of membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) in December 1992, Switzerland was excluded from the programme and as a result Swiss professionals in the cinema and audiovisual sector have not had access to the MEDIA programme since 1993. In 1993, in order to mitigate the negative effects of this exclusion, the Swiss Federal Council introduced funding for compensatory measures. The funding, renewed...