The Council of Europe has approved the Government’s proposal for the settlement of the outstanding issues related to the media authority and the media council. As a result, drafting of the proposed amendment of the Media Law may now begin.

Last November, Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe contacted Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics in a letter. In this, he recommended that the positions of the President of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority and the President of the Media Council should not be held by one and the same person and further that the President of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority should not be appointed by the Prime Minister but should be elected by Parliament. In his letter, the Secretary General found the nine-year mandate of the President of the Authority acceptable, provided that re-election is excluded by law.

In his reply, Tibor Navracsics pointed out that the separation of the two presidential positions is a fundamental conceptual feature of the new media legislation which should not be changed and further that Parliament cannot elect the President of the Authority as, based on the Fundamental Law, the heads of independent regulatory agencies are appointed by the Prime Minister or by the President of the Republic based on the Prime Minister’s nomination. At the same time, he expressed the Hungarian party’s readiness to change the media legislation to such an effect that the President of the Republic be vested with the power of appointing the President of the Authority in accordance with the Fundamental Law and that civil organisations should play a role in the selection of the President of the Authority prior to nomination by the Prime Minister. The Government is also open to the determination by law of higher competence requirements in the selection process. In his reply, the Minister indicated that the exclusion of the re-election of the President of the Authority elected for nine years is a feasible option as well.

The drafting of the proposed amendment may now begin with a view to the above and Parliament may pass the amendment as early as this spring.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)