Activity Details (ID# 11264)

Activity Synopsis

The objectives of the seminar were to provide an intensive briefing on Council of Europe standards concerning freedom of expression and media regulation with a particular view to the coaching of participants for the forthcoming discussions in the Kosovo Assembly on the draft Law on the Independent Media Commission and Broadcasting and for the drafting of a Law on Radio-Television Kosovo (RTK). 

About 20 people participated in the seminar, including a dozen Kosovo decision-makers and advisers - representatives of the parliamentary committee responsible for media law and key members of the Prime Minister’s legal staff - who were directly involved in shaping the two laws. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo provided logistic support and a representative of the European Commission participated in the seminar.
The two-day seminar covered the basic Council of Europe standards concerning freedom of expression and information with a focus on broadcasting regulation. The programme covered concrete issues such as European standards for public-service broadcasting, legal framework for broadcast regulatory bodies and its implementation and a thorough discussion on the two draft laws mentioned above.
The participants had also meetings with representatives of the Council of Europe Secretariat - from the Directorate General of Political Affairs, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Media Division. At the end of the first day, the participants visited ARTE, a French-German public-service broadcaster based in Strasbourg.
Upon their return, the Kosovo participants said that they found this seminar of enormous value because it was focused on practical issues. The experts offered a range of practical solutions with a clear picture of the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches. The Kosovo participants also deeply appreciated the informality and the collegiality of these two intensive days.
 

The work on the two draft laws was resumed immediately after the participants returned to Kosovo. Subsequently the Law on the Independent Media Commission and broadcasting was adopted by the Assembly and promulgated by the Special Representative of the Secretary General. The Law on Radio-Television Kosovo also looks likely to be adopted soon.
The Council of Europe will continue providing expert assistance for finalising the media-related legal framework in Kosovo and for its implementation in line with European standards.
 

Members of the Kosovo Assembly Commission on Public Service, Local Administration and Media; media advisor to the President of the Assembly; government officials. 

Dr Karol Jakubowicz, Chairman, Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services, Council of Europe, and Ms Eve Salomon, legal and regulatory consultant, United Kingdom. 

Mr Rűdiger Dossow, Parliamentary Assembly; Mr Marc Scheuer, Director of Political Advice and Co-operation, and Ms Claudia Luciani, Political Advice and Co-operation, Directorate General of Political Affairs; Mr Jan Malinowski, Head of the Media Division, and Mr Ivan Nikoltchev, Media Division, Directorate General of Human Rights.