The Law of the Audiovisual, changed discreetly

The Emergency ordinance to amend the Law of the Audiovisual, prepared by the government and vehemently contested by the advertising agencies, was approved yesterday. Initially, the document was not included on the list of norms to be discussed in the government meeting of November 27, but was included on the additional agenda instead. This is a surprising move, considering that on November 15th, in a note of the press office of the Government, it was said that the Emergency Ordinance to amend the Law of the Audiovisual "was no longer of actuality".

The project was severely contested before it reached the Government's desk or being officially made public; in fact, it did not even go into a public debate, just like the decisional transparency.

On November 6th, according to a press release published on the gov.ro website, when it comes to normative acts which were supposed to be discussed in that meeting, there was also a proposal to amend and make additions to the Law of the Audiovisual no. 504/2002.

This did not happen, because the draft was remitted to the Ministry of Justice. Later, from the advertising agencies came the information that the Emergency Ordinance would be passed on November 20nd.

One week later, when it all seemed to have been forgotten, the draft was discussed during the government meeting and approved.

Andrei Zaharescu, the spokesperson of the Government, has announced that the Emergency Ordinance passed yesterday comprises three major types of changes, concerning the buying of advertising, the modification of the channel roster by the cable companies and the activity of the National Audiovisual Commission (CNA).

The fiercest arguments concerned the article which concerns the sale of advertising spaces. Two weeks ago, the European Association of Communication Agencies (EACA) reacted to the Emergency Ordinance for the Amendment of the Audiovisual Law, as did the Union of Romanian Advertising Agencies (UAPR). The two associations were upset by the paragraph which concerned TV media buying: "Art. 291 (1) Any acquisition of televised advertising may not be done by an intermediary except in the name and on behalf of the end beneficiary of said televised advertising. (2) Any bids for buying televised advertising, presented by the intermediaries mentioned in paragraph (1) to the end beneficiaries of televised advertising, must be confirmed in writing by the broadcasting company". The representatives of the EACA have sent a letter to the General Secretariat of the Government, to the National Audiovisual Council, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Justice and the Competition Council raising a warning about the ordinance project: "Our Romanian Association has informed us about the emergency draft project to amend the Law of the Audiovisual no. 504/2002, which concerns the mechanism for acquiring advertising space (...) The project has an important anti-competition effect. The draft limits the bargaining power of the advertising agencies in their relationship with broadcasters. The draft favors the monopoly of broadcasters over their own advertising spaces by eliminating the ability to negotiate. The draft favors the monopoly of broadcasters, because broadcasters (the radio or TV stations) have to be informed about the contract concluded between the customer and the advertising agency. The draft does not define the notion of intermediary and does not take into consideration the complex role played by the advertising agencies." Market sources claim that in its current form, the law does precisely the opposite, by allowing competition.

The Emergency Ordinance to modify Law of the Audiovisual also directly affects the future activity of the National Audiovisual Council (CNA), as some people claim that this would dent the independence of the CNA. The sanctions and the fines of the CNA will not become effective immediately, but those who received them will have the right to dispute them in court. The members of the CNA will be required to present activity reports in the Parliament, and they can now be dismissed. Up until now, the members of the CNA had six-year terms, regardless of the faction which held the political majority.

Another change concerns the ending of the practices of major cable companies, as they will no longer be allowed to change their roster of channels without notifying their customers about it. The channel roster will also be drafted and arranged according to the ratings of each channel over the last year, and the quality of the signal will have to be the same for all broadcasted channels.