The funding of Radio Romania and editorial independence
A bill initiated by the Social Democratic Party on the cancellation, starting on the 1st of January 2017, of 102 non-fiscal charges, including the radio and TV licence fee, has sparked many reactions.
România Internațional, 20.10.2016, 13:29
The funding of public radio and television services from the state budget is the worst possible solution, says the Legal Director of the European Broadcasting Union, Richard Burnley, who has been on a trip to Bucharest. In a statement to the Romanian Television, he has voiced concerns about the proposed elimination of the radio and TV licence fee under a new bill initiated by the Social Democratic Party and has called on Parliament not to endorse it. He said the radio and TV licence fee is not a form of taxation, but the societys important contribution to funding public and television services.
The attempt to eliminate it is a worrying move, he said, because practice has shown that this is the best solution to fund public radio and television. This helps ensure the full independence of the two services and create a relationship with the public, who becomes the owner of the two media. In the opinion of the Legal Director of the European Broadcasting Union, funding the two services through the state budget is the worst possible solution. In Europe, there are only a few countries with such a politicised form of funding in which the entire power rests with the political class. When a new government comes in power, it may easily cut the budget, which upsets the entire activity of the public radio and television services.
Richard Burnley called on Parliament to reconsider its position. The Board of Directors of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Union does not support the bill on the elimination of the radio and TV licence fee. In a press release, the Board says its elimination would radically change the autonomous and independent nature of the public broadcasting services.
The leader of the Liberal MPs Eugen Nicolaescu also said that, through their proposal to eliminate the radio and TV licence fee, the Social Democrats wish to achieve the political subordination of the public broadcasting services. The finance minister Anca Dragu has warned that the elimination of the 102 non-fiscal charges would cost the budget almost 400 million euros, which is double than the initiators of the bill estimated. Dragu insisted that next years budget deficit must not exceed 3% of the countrys GDP.
The bill on the elimination of 102 non-fiscal charges starting on the 1st of January 2017 passed in the Senate last week, the first chamber to discuss the bill. More recently, the proposal was also approved by the Chamber of Deputies Legal Committee. Next Tuesday, the parliamentary group of the Social Democrat Party hopes the bill will also pass in the Chamber of Deputies, which has decision-making powers.
(Translated by C. Mateescu)
