Government lets Parliament decide on modification of Broadcasting Code

Though it expressed its opinion, the Government let the Parliament decide whether to approve or not a bill on the modification of article 66, paragraph (3) of the Broadcasting Code, submitted by a group of MPs as legislative initiative, Info-Prim Neo reports. This paragraph says that a private individual or legal entity can hold at most two broadcast licenses in the same territorial administrative unit or area, but cannot have exclusive rights. The bill proposes giving the legal entities or private individuals who are private broadcasters the right to hold at most five broadcast licenses in the same territorial administrative unit or area, without the possibility of having exclusive rights. Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase said the solution proposed by the MPs could limit competition in the given area and could lead to the appearance of dominant positions in forming the public opinion. He recommended studying the international practice before adopting the amendment. In Ukraine for example, a private broadcaster can hold only a broadcast license in the same region, while in Romania – two licenses.