The Media Advocacy Coalition believes that it is crucial for the Parliament of Georgia to bring the Georgian Law on Broadcasting in line with European legislation by the deadline of 31 May 2023. Dozens of recommendations made by the independent expert opinion of the Information Society Unit of the Council of Europe’s Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law should be taken into account in order not only to safeguard the media environment and the film industry, but also to ensure that Georgia’s EU candidate status is not jeopardised.
Amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, introduced in December 2022, were rushed through the Georgian Parliament without the participation of interested parties. Despite the fact that the European Union saw the need for discussions and extended the deadline for compliance until 31 May 2023, the Parliament did not wait for the Council of Europe’s expert assessments on the issue and did not share the alternative draft law prepared by the majority of broadcasters and NGOs. The Media Advocacy Coalition criticised the Parliament’s hasty adoption of amendments without stakeholder engagement and risk assessment.
According to a report by the Council of Europe’s Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law, published in February 2023, “several areas of the Broadcasting Law do not comply with EU and Council of Europe standards”. Overall, it states that the current law does not comply with the European Directive. In addition, “there are a number of provisions that allegedly violate Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”.
Bringing the Georgian Law On Broadcasting into line with European legislation is directly linked to the issue of Georgia’s membership in “Creative Europe”. “Creative Europe” is a programme of the European Union created to support representatives of European culture and arts.
Taking into account all the above-mentioned circumstances, we call upon the Parliament of Georgia to take into account the recommendations made in the report of the General Directorate for Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe and to bring the Georgian Law on Broadcasting into line with European legislation by 31 May 2023, so that Georgia does not cease to be a partial member of “Creative Europe” and so as not to hinder the attainment of the status of a candidate country for EU membership.
