Bulgaria | The Peevsky and MRF Media Law was supported by GERB and the Patriots



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19659005] Next year

Bulgaria becomes weaker at the rank of Reporters Without Borders in the freedom of the media

3 May 2018

Amendments to the law on the mandatory deposit of printed and other works imported from MPs of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, including Delyan Peevski, had their first reading in the National Assembly with the support of the GER Patriots. The representatives of the BSP voted against and abstained. 92 MEPs voted in favor of the amendments, 12 against and 28 abstained.

The texts have so far figured in the drawers of Parliament, the government having decided to regulate the media market and to form a working group composed of the ministers of the economy, finance and culture to prepare changes to current legislation on ownership and financing of media and their distribution

Background

MRF parliamentarians propose to oblige media service providers, incl. print, electronic and online media provide information about their current owner on their website and state any funding received during the previous calendar year, its size and rationale, as well as the contact information of the people who have it. 39 provided. However, the definition of financing shows that information on bank loans, advertising revenues and communication contracts from European funds used for hidden financing has not been communicated

Another part of the texts proposed provides distributors of printed publications to declare to the Ministry of Culture their current owner as well as the number of outlets. If the last is a third of all sites, the information will be sent to the Commission for the Protection of Competition

A public register of media ownership exists in 2011. It is with the Ministry of Culture and the owners are obliged each year to report actual data in this one. The Electronic Media Council maintains a similar registry for broadcasters, so there's not just a list for online editions. State authorities are responsible for meeting deadlines and completing the necessary information. Even if at times it was missing, the state has so far always refused to punish those who do not abide by the law, thus virtually neglecting the record in the normative document

A few days ago in sectoral badysis requested by the ministerial working group The Competition Commission has confirmed that large advertising budgets target large media groups, which puts the smallest players in check, but without giving names. The Commission has recommended that all public funding be done according to clear rules and strict controls.
The Antimonopoly Authority also requested a register – this time for the final owners of all media – TVs, radio, press, online news and distributors. distributors) of media content

The draft law on the media relating to the movement for rights and freedoms was put to the vote by parliament without being heard in committee. The MRF uses parliamentary procedure and places it on the first Wednesday of the month when, according to the rules, opposition groups set the agenda of the National Assembly

Deputies

Anton Kutev, a member of the BSP, calls it "the next step towards state degradation" and has announced that he will not support it. According to him, if the changes were not signed by Delyan Peevsky, they would be in the right direction. "By his signature, he (the draft law) is a desire or an attempt to show all Bulgaria that nobody can do anything about it, he will not support it, not because of the content of the texts but because of Delyan Peevsky's presence is a challenge for society, "said Kutev. He called the initiative "rape of public opinion". "The very idea that parliament can support Peevsky, as long as the whole environment collapses," said the MP for BSP. And he made a prediction – "that energy that accumulates against him sooner or later will result."

In a response to his statement, Yordan Tsonev, another of the MRF importers, said that all the projects submitted by Peevski "were in favor of Bulgarian society and not in his personal interest." For his part, Kutev has said: "Is it permissible, four years ago, not to declare anything in the declaration of income and property, and then to appear as hundreds of millions? and what we are doing now is the same. "" The fight to lighten the image of Peevski does not go through parliament, does not engage in it, "he said.

"The media environment needs to be lightened, that is, and where it finances," Tsonev said. He recalled that Wednesday, there were five months since the submission of the project. The agenda comes because on the first Wednesday of every month the opposition alternates to offer points. "We could have done it on the previous round, but we've been waiting for you to do your projects, you do not have," Tsonev said. There is no committee report for the bill because it has never been considered by the committees. (19659012) Vezhdi Rashidov (GERB), chairman of the Committee on Culture and the Media in Parliament, read a preliminary statement, but before that, he said: "We have the right to vote in the Chamber of Deputies, The Project is not just intended for Peevski, but the Prime Minister ordered three departments to work there, and there have been many proposals from NGOs, and we were waiting for the CPC report. He announced that he would support the changes as it is "the idea of ​​money transparency". "It makes a lot of sense to know who is behind the media because that money can be bought for a consensus, "says Rashidov.On his proposal between the first and second reading, the deadline was raised to four weeks

Volen Siderov, the leader of Attack , also joined the apologists of the project.He recalled that four years ago, his party asked t All journalists, sociologists and PRs to report their income and property. "If you have a problem with Peevsky, go to the corner, decide them, do not take care of your complexes," Siderov told Kutev and BSP. Some people in the allocation of Ataka in the state administration have moved closer to the MRF deputy

The Hidden Goals

L & # The original idea of ​​the ruling majority to present its proposals for changes in the media law in practice has turned out to be camouflage, because today GERB has fully supported the Peevski's ideas for the media market.

The delay happened so that the institutions could participate in the game. As part of the investigation, the new anti-corruption commission found no personal interest from the MRF deputy behind the presentation of the bill. The CPC wrote a report that did not prevent his ideas for changes affecting the media

After the bankruptcy with the banker Tsvetan Vasilev and the bankruptcy of KTB, Peevsky gradually revealed his property in several media (formerly a part belongs to his mother and were acquired with CCB loans) – Monitor, Telegraph, Politics, Meridian Match, Borba. April 25 of this year. it has been announced that MRF MP Intryst EAD is selling half of its print media business to New Image Bulgaria

Now the support of its law will further expose its reputation to the public

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