The Chamber of
\nDeputies, Parliament’s decision-making body in this case, on Tuesday passed a
\nbill proposed by the Social Democratic Party to eliminate over 100 non-fiscal
\ncharges, including the radio and TV licence fee, which provides most of the
\nfunding for the public broadcasters. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Monday, the
\nSocial Democrats had given up on plans to eliminate this charge amid criticism
\nfrom politicians, civil society and representatives of public media
\ninstitutions, all of whom said doing away with the licence fee would
\nsignificantly affect the autonomy and independence of the public radio and TV
\nservices. The Management Board of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation
\nsays the elimination of the licence fee by law gravely affects the independence
\nand impartiality of the public broadcasting services. Media organisations have
\nalso criticised the move, saying it profoundly alters the mission of public
\nradio and TV services and creates an excessive dependence on the political
\nelement. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In response, the
\npresident of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea said the elimination of
\nthe licence fee does not imply the political subordination of the two public
\ninstitutions and proposed the establishment of specific state budget
\nallocations. Liviu Dragnea:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
For next year,
\nthrough the state budget law, we will approve in Parliament a rate of 21 lei on
\nbehalf of every Romanian citizen for the public radio broadcaster, amounting to
\n420 lei, and of 34 lei for the television broadcaster, amounting to 680 lei.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberals
\nexplained why they voted in favour of the bill, despite being in opposition.
\nHere’s the Liberal MP Andreea Paul:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The National
\nLiberal Party voted in favour of the bill because it is a good bill in general.
\nIt does, pose, however, two major risks. The elimination of the radio and TV
\nlicence fee is a huge mistake that will amputate the freedom and autonomy of
\nthe public radio and TV broadcasting services which cannot buy this freedom by
\nresorting to the state budget. On the other hand, for next year, the Social
\nDemocratic Party proposes new levies and para-fiscal taxes instead, which means
\nthey are only interested in eliminating these charges for the duration of the
\nelection campaign.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The government
\nsays the initiators of the bill have not indicated the source of funding to
\ncover the budget impact of the elimination of these charges. According to the
\nfinance minister Anca Dragu, the elimination of the radio and TV licence fee
\nmay cost the state budget around 140 million euros a year. She warns that
\nfunding the public broadcasting services from the state budget implies amending
\nthe law regulating the activity of the two institutions, which is an organic
\nlaw. Anca Dragu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Within the
\ncurrent legal framework, the state budget can only cover certain types of
\nexpenses incurred by the radio and TV broadcasters. So it cannot cover all of
\ntheir expenses. These fees are therefore necessary and form part of the legal
\nframework regulating the activity of the public radio and TV broadcasters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Prime minister
\nDacian Ciolos has also warned that the adoption of the bill would lead to an
\nincrease in other levies and taxes to compensate for the budget expenses. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parliament passes bill on the elimination of over 100 small non-fiscal charges, including the radio and tv licence fee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[31075],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-70595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-licence-fee"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n