Council of Europe Regional Conference looks at Indicators for the Independence of Regulatory Bodies

The Council of Europe under the Project “Promoting freedom of expression and information and freedom of the media in South-East Europe (SEE)” organised a regional conference on “Indicators for Independence of Media Regulatory Bodies”. The conference took place from 6 to 7 March 2014 in Tirana, Albania.

The Conference brought together representatives of the regulatory authorities in the field of media, relevant Ministries, Parliamentary Committees and non-governmental organisations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244). The aim was to discuss indicators for the formal and actual independence of regulatory bodies. 

The conclusions (see "attached document" below) of the meeting underlined the essential role played by the Council of Europe in the region in setting standards and in assisting the implementation process based on the European Convention of Human Rights.

The participants agreed that in order to measure the level of independence of regulatory bodies the following indicators should be taken into account:

• existence and implementation of the legal framework which clearly and unequivocally defines the position, competences, rights and duties of a regulatory body;

• existence and implementation of the legal framework stipulating sustainable and stable sources of financing of a regulatory body;

• existence and implementation of clear-cut rules and good practice ensuring that a regulatory body is able to adopt its decisions autonomously;

• existence and implementation of clear-cut rules, rights and duties related to the possibility of planning, hiring and developing human resources;

• existence and implementation of clear-cut rules, rights and duties relating to adopting and publishing financial and operational plans and reports of independent regulatory bodies.

It was also agreed to hold a one-day meeting with regulatory bodies from the region on the day preceding the EPRA meeting in Budva - i.e. on Wednesday 4 June 2014. The follow-up seminar will focus on “Defining specific indicators for establishing and monitoring the transparency, responsibility and operational efficiency of these bodies, as parameters which should be taken into account in the process of analysing their work and independence”.

More information

Agenda

Source: Council of Europe - Office in Belgrade