Brussels, 02/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of the Greek, Portuguese and Belgium public televisions warned against the programmed deterioration of the public audiovisual sector throughout the European Union unless urgent measures are taken to protect it and ensure its continuity. They warned that the very foundations of democracy were being threatened. The Greens/EFA Group organised, on 2 July, during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, a public hearing on the future of Greece's public radio-TV broadcasting company, ERT, under the chairmanship of Rebecca Harms (Germany), Nikos Chrysogelos (Greece) and Isabelle Durant (Belgium). The Greens promised to raise a multiparty oral question to the European Commission in September and to organise a large-scale event for October on the future of the public audiovisual sector.
Despite the Council of State's decision on 18 June demanding temporary reopening of ERT pending the establishment of a new structure, this has not happened (see EUROPE 10869). What is worse, the digital frequencies not used by ERT have been attributed with total lack of transparency to a consortium composed of six powerful private channels on the economic scene, the representative of ERT workers, Nikos Michalitis, denounced. In his view, the unlawful closure of ERT (the decision was not discussed in parliament beforehand, he said) was on the agenda of the bodies in power for several months and arises from a process of dislocation of the public sector in general, to the benefit of the private sector. This is a movement that provides a foundation for fascism, he said, citing President Roosevelt in 1938. The representative of the Portuguese public television company, RTP, Camilo Azevedo, set out the difficulties encountered by public television in Portugal: - budget cuts, a decline in content quality, and the attribution of digital frequencies that are in private operators' favour and are more profitable for the government. François Tron, from Belgium's public television company, enlarged the debate to cultural exception - a strong public audiovisual sector, representing cultural diversity and a source of creation, is the best argument that the EU can use in WTO debates with the Americans. After the debate, Durant sketched out the essential points to be taken into account in order to develop a response, saying that what is needed is: 1) pressure on Greece by using the future presidency as a lever for reopening ERT; 2) review of public sector missions (still a priority or has it become residual?); 3) evaluation of the budgetary needs for sustainable operation of public audiovisual sector; 4) determining the content to be covered for the public audiovisual sector; 5) analysis of the role of both public and private media, in an audiovisual landscape that is characterised by the emergence of new platforms. (IL/transl.jl)