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The national parliamentary elections in Hungary will take place on 9 April 2006. On 12 January 2006 the Hungarian National Radio and Television Commission (“NRTC”) published its recommendations for the electronic media on the coverage of the national elections. The main goal of the recommendation is, according to its Chapter on “Goals and Basic Principles”, to better enforce the relevant articles of the Hungarian Media Act and the Act on the Elections Procedure on Balanced Broadcasting. The document consists of ten chapters: I. Goals and Basic Principles; II. General rules; III. The way of presentation;...

The European Commission has sent "reasoned opinions" to Germany and Luxembourg. Both these countries have failed to implement Directive 2003/33/EC of 26 May 2003 on the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products. The two non-compliant EU Member States had already been targeted by the Commission in October 2005, when a "letter of formal notice" was issued to their addresses. If they neglect to comply within two months, they face legal action and, ultimately, a ruling by the European Court of Justice that they have failed to fulfil their obligation to transpose EU legislation. The Commissioner...

The European Commission adopted its Fifth Report on the application of the “Television without Frontiers” (TWF) Directive on 10 February 2006. The Commission is required to adopt such bi-annual reports under Article 26, TWF Directive. The period covered by the Fifth Report is 2003 and 2004, a period during which the European Union’s (EU) membership expanded from 15 to 25 Member States. After documenting relevant developments in the television market in Europe and noting that new Member States had to notify their legislation transposing the TWF Directive into national law, the Report embarks on...

On 22 December 2005, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted a new edition of the Act on the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT). It contains a few essential amendments regarding the activity of the public service broadcaster. The main change is the modification of the public service broadcaster´s financing model. According to Article 15 of the Act, the Lithuanian public service broadcaster is funded from the allocation of the State budget, advertising, publishing activity as well as from sponsorship and revenues obtained from commercial and economic activities. Thus, the Lithuanian Parliament...

In December 2005, new codes were launched on alcohol advertising on radio and television, in the cinema and in outdoor media. The codes, which are voluntary, were agreed between the Department of Health and Children, the drinks industry, the association of advertisers and representatives of the media. The purpose of the codes is to address Department of Health concerns in relation to alcohol advertising and young people. A monitoring body to oversee the implementation of the codes was also established. It will report annually to the Minister for Health and, if it becomes apparent that the system...