Activity Details (ID# 8410)

Activity Synopsis

The objective was to allow the Council for Coordination on the Audiovisual Activity (CCA) of Moldova to take part in the EPRA meeting. Though CCA has been a member of EPRA since June 2003, this was the very first time that their representatives could attend one of these meetings which take place twice a year.
The Council of Europe covered the travel and accommodation expenses of two representatives of CCA - Mrs Vera Galcovski, in charge of international relations, and Mr Ion Mihailo, Chairman.
 

The 19th EPRA meeting was jointly hosted by the Swedish Broadcasting Commission and the Swedish Radio and TV Authority. 124 participants from 38 countries attended the meeting. 48 regulatory authorities were represented and were joined by the permanent observers from the Council of Europe, the European Audiovisual Observatory and the European Commission.
Mrs Vera Galcovski and Mr Ion Mihailo participated in all events and workshops and had the opportunity to meet their colleagues from other regulatory authorities in Eastern and Western Europe. Thus they were able to participate in the discussions and to establish contact with their fellow regulators around Europe.
The first plenary session was dedicated to the topic of 'Matters of Privacy: Where to draw the line between privacy and public interest?' The session started with a keynote address from Pär-Arne Jigenius, former press Ombudsman, who identified and reported on concrete examples of where the boundaries between privacy and public interest could be set. The following debate emphasised the great diversity in the remit of regulatory authorities in that field and in what constitutes an invasion of privacy.
The second part of the plenary dealt with the report of the Working Group on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), a pilot group composed of EPRA members. The aim of the report was to assess the state of DTT development across Europe and to attempt an evaluation of the factors that can determine its success or accelerate the transition within a specific broadcasting environment.
‘Protection of Minors: Examples and Current Issues of Concern' was the theme of the first working group. Three key issues were discussed: the application of the Television Without Frontiers Directive, the instruments at the disposal of regulators such as rating symbols and watershed rules, and the range of sanctions applicable in such cases.
The second working group on 'Regulation of Radio: Localness, Licensing, Digitalisation', was based on contributions from Denmark, France, Ireland and the UK. Even though, there is no harmonisation at the European level of the content provisions governing radio broadcasting, all authorities experienced common challenges such as preserving localness and encouraging the development of digital radio.
On the second day, representatives from the European Commission and the Council of Europe presented their recent activities.
 

The CCA representatives reported that the meeting had been very fruitful and beneficial for them in terms of content and in terms of contacts made with other regulators. They will issue a very positive report to the other members of the CCA and hope to be able to participate in all EPRA meetings in future. 

Representatives of 48 broadcasting regulators from 38 countries