The EU defends pluralism” “

The President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, sent a message to both Chambers of the Italian Parliament on 23 July to request as soon as possible the issuing of a “systematic law aimed at regulating the whole field of communication” according to the principles of pluralism and impartiality, necessary in a democratic society. In his message, which made a big impact both in public opinion and in the Italian and European political world, the Italian President recalls that “the principles and values of pluralism and impartiality in the sector of electronic communications have been recalled and systematically regulated in four recent Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union, which must be adopted by the member countries by July 2003”. These Directives, Ciampi explains, define the framework of a “European common policy in the field of information”. Below we publish a résumé of the objectives of this European information policy and the content of the directives cited by President Ciampi. The European Union laid the foundations of the juridical discipline in the information sector through the “Protocol on the system of public radiotelediffusion”, annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997. Four basic principles are enunciated in the Protocol. They relate both to the nature and to the funding of the public service broadcasting system: the democratic, social and cultural function of public information connected with the need to preserve the pluralism of the mass media; the responsibility of each member state to freely define and organize its own national systems in a perspective of general interest; the faculty of member states to finance the public service of radiotelediffusion in fulfilment of the mission of public service; and the respect for free exchange and competition within the Community. The Protocol also specifies that the fundamental criteria to be applied in the formulation of the provisions for the financing of the service are proportionality and transparency, in respect for the “dual system” (the co-existence of public and private radio and television broadcasters) which represents a distinctive feature of the European world of information. A further task of the Union is to foster the harmonization of national legislations on publishing and information with the objective of making radiotelediffusion – both public and private – a service in the interest of society, recognizing the need to create in the audiovisual sector organs of control as far as possible independent of the political power and to prohibit the amassing of monopoly positions in the sector. The limited legislative framework then in force in the EU was based on the “Directive of the Council, of 3 October 1989, relating to the coordination of certain legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions of the member states regarding the exercise of television activities”, which still forms the main discipline regulating the content of television programmes. Thanks to the publication in December 1997 of the “Green Paper on convergence between the sectors of telecommunications, audiovisuals and information technologies”, the Community posed the problem of the updating of legislation not only on the traditional sectors of information and communication, but also on the new media, such as the digital and Internet (for this latter, in particular, the problem was posed of how to identify the juridical responsibility for the contents, in contrast to the classic forms of press and radio and television broadcasting). In this regard, the “Report of the High Level Group on Audiovisual Policy” – chaired by the then Commissioner, Marcelino Oreja, and published in 1999 – points out: “To ensure that the legislative framework evolves without need for continuous adjustments, with consequent lack of juridical certainty, it should be based on principles, and very detailed provisions should be avoided. The principles in question ought to include pluralism, the requirement for high quality contents, respect for linguistic and cultural diversities, and the protection of juveniles. Also necessary are clear provisions and safeguards to ensure freedom, the absence of discrimination and equal opportunities of access”.