NMHH hosted an international regulatory meeting in Debrecen

Published: 18 September 2017

The ninth annual session of the Central European Regulatory Forum (CERF) was held in Debrecen from 14-15 September. As hosted by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), the participating countries had a chance to discuss the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive of the European Union and the future of digital radio services.

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Monika Karas, President of the NMHH Hungary

Apart from the host country of Hungary, the representatives of the regulatory bodies from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and—as an observer—Luxembourg participated at the event in Debrecen. (Romania is also a member of the forum, yet due to other difficulties, they were unable to attend the session.)

Roundtable discussions were held at the forum on the principles of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) and the future of digital radio. Halina Rostek, Deputy Director of the Polish KRRIT, shared her experiences on the introduction of DAB+ in Poland and the establishment of multiplexes: October will mark four years that all the channels of the Polish Radio—including extra services—were made available through DAB+, therefore, the initial steps have been taken. The difficulties in Croatia and the plans to be introduced in the near future were outlined by Davor Maric, member of the Croatian Electronic Media Council. Albert Wozniak, expert of the KRRIT gave a presentation on the current developments concerning the review of AVMS principles, focusing on the background work of the inter-authority harmonization of legal, regulatory and administrative measures.

Thierry Hoscheit, president of the Luxembourg authority also traveled to Debrecen, reinforcing the international ties. NMHH received a number of reports on the programs of television shows aired on channels registered in Luxembourg and in several cases, the domestic experts forwarded the cases to the foreign co-authority.

On the festive eve of the event, guests had a chance to see Kristóf Deák’s Oscar-winning short film, Sing (Mindenki). President of the NMHH, Monika Karas delivered a speech at the opening ceremony on 14 September. “The importance of cooperation is not only a timely issue for Central European countries, but also throughout Europe, since the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive is currently taking place. It is up to us, amongst others, how these rules will change, therefore, it is worth having discussions on the subject,” said Monika Karas, referring to the main theme of the event in her welcome address.

Two additional members of the Media Council gave presentations at the event. Tamás Kollarik provided a summary on the successes of the Hungarian Media Patronage Programme and the Hungarian system of supporting audiovisual content, whilst Ágnes Vass spoke about the protection of minors and the current issues of the regulations on commercial communication and the Hungarian legal practice. The NMHH Magic Valley (Bűvösvölgy) project was also introduced at the forum and participants had an opportunity to visit the country’s second media literacy education centre opened this year in Debrecen.