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7th EPRA meeting in Fredrikstad

posted on 16 May, 1998   (public)

The EPRA held its seventh meeting in Fredrikstad, Norway at the invitation of the Norwegian Mass Media Authority on 14-15 May 1998

Representatives from 21 audiovisual regulatory authorities from EU, EFTA, Central and Eastern European countries as well as Turkey met to exchange information and experiences on European and national regulatory issues in the field of radio and television. The European Commission (DG X) - which contributes substantially to the EPRA budget - as well as the Council of Europe participated in the meeting as observers. On this occasion, a special welcome was given by the Chairman, Greger Lindberg (Director of the Swedish Broadcasting Commission), to three new EPRA members, the French Audiovisual Council (CSA), the Slovenian Audiovisual Council and the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia (CAC). Also welcomed to the EPRA were the regulatory authorities of the Belgian French-speaking Community and those of Latvia and Estonia, which attended the EPRA meeting for the first time as observers.

The issue of violence on television, with special focus on news programmes, was the main item on the agenda. The showing of video examples of violence provided the basis for a lively and fruitful exchange of views. The issue of the relationships between broadcasters and regulators was another important item of the discussion. The participants dedicated the second half day to the discussion of current European developments in the field of the media.

The European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) was set up in April 1995 in Malta with the aim of enabling representatives of independent regulatory authorities to meet regularly in an informal way to exchange information about common issues of national and European media regulation as well as their interpretation and application. To date, 21 regulatory authorities are members of the EPRA. The Secretariat of the Platform is provided by the European Institute for the Media (EIM).

The next meeting of the EPRA is scheduled for 5-6 November 1998 in Aachen, Germany at the invitation of the DLM, the umbrella organisation for all German regional regulatory authorities and LfR, the North-Rhine Westphalian regulatory body.

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