SKOPJE 28.03.2011 – In 2010, the BC was working in full composition. After the mandates of three members of the BC had expired, the Parliament of RM elected MA Milaim Fetai, MSc. Alma Mashovic and MSc. Boris Arsov were elected new members, and MA Milaim Fetai took over the position of Deputy President.
The main activity of the BC during 2010 was the monitoring of the programmes of the broadcasters and the adherence of the operators of public communication networks (cable, DVB-T and IPTV operators) to the legal provisions. Many in-depth analyses of the broadcast programmes have been also conducted.
During the reporting period, the BC held 23 regular sessions and 4 public sessions, about which the public was informed via BCs’ website that was regularly updated also with numerous press releases and announcements about the everyday activities of the BC in three languages: Macedonian, Albanian and English. Also other relevant documents were published on the website such as: the Working Programme and the Financial Plan of the BC, all the rulebooks, guidelines, recommendations, decisions, analysis, results from the conducted monitoring, measures taken against the violators of the law and contractual obligations, printed editions of the BC, current documents, conventions, directives, recommendations and guidelines of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
During the reporting year 2010, by amending the Broadcasting Law, the Public Revenue Office was tasked to collect the Broadcasting Fee. In order to overcome the other ambiguities and inconsistencies in the text of the Broadcasting Law, the BC submitted a draft initiative with amendments and addenda to the current Broadcasting Law. Also, the BC had an initiative for amending of the Election Code, The Law for Protection of the Authors’ and Related Rights, and the Law for Consumer Protection. Since the excising laws and regulations are not sufficient to ensure efficiency in terms of protection of the intellectual property, it was concluded an agreement to be signed for joint action of the Coordinative Body for Intellectual Property of the Government, the Public Revenue Office and the Crime Police of the Ministry of Interior. This initiative gave excellent results in fighting the piracy in the area of broadcasting.
BC also conducted many workshops for the media, whose aim was to improve the minors’ protection. The workshops, along with the numerous suggestions made to the broadcasters, resulted in an increased awareness among them about the legal obligation for categorization and classification of their programmes.
During 2010 BC continued its cooperation with many national and international regulatory bodies, institutions and organizations. Within its international cooperation the BC will host the next meeting of the European Platform for Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), planned for May 2011 in Ohrid.
The full report of the working of the BC is available here (only in Macedonian).