The Serbian Parliament adopted two media laws

(Source: Politika) The Serbian Parliament adopted today the Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media.

Information and Telecommunications Minister Mihailo Jovanovic said on Wednesday that an amendment concerning additional means of protection, which should ensure competition and free competition in line with the highest standards, is being accepted.

More specifically, an amendment is accepted by which Telekom Srbija will not be able to receive state aid if it deals with the media, and Jovanovic urged opposition MPs not to mislead the public that the proposed laws are not harmonized with the European Union.

He pointed out that, like several European countries, Serbia, i.e. the state telecommunications operator, has the right to participate equally in the market.

The amendment was adopted and extending the deadline for banning the official campaign from 10 to 30 days before the day of voting.

As previously announced, the Law on Public Information and Media, among other things, defines the public interest in the field of public information more fully and more closely regulates the work of media publishers founded by councils of national minorities, as well as the detailed procedure of project co-financing.

It is also envisaged to establish a Single Information System for the implementation and monitoring of co-financing of projects in the field of public information, which is expected to affect the transparency of this process.

In addition to the existing Media Register, the law also establishes records of media producers. Also, in accordance with the proposal of newspaper and media associations, the Press Council is also defined in the law.

As further stated, the Law on Public Information and Media also provides labor protection to journalists, in accordance with the regulations in the field of labor law, which strengthens the basis for the protection of professional journalistic integrity from abuses of the law and harassment, in order to prevent freedom of public information.

The Law on Electronic Media, in addition to harmonization with the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive of 2018 and the fulfilment of pre-accession obligations from Chapter 10, creates preconditions for achieving greater independence and professionalism of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), and thus better regulation of the electronic media market.