Media Laws Adopted

The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications has announced that, today, at the second regular session of the National Assembly this year, the Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media were adopted.

– The adoption of these laws is an important step toward a further improvement of the media scene in Serbia, as well as the further implementation of the Strategy of Development of the System of Public Information in the Republic of Serbia for 2020-2025 – the ministry says in its announcement.

The Law on Public Information and Media more fully defines the public interest in the field of public information and regulates, in detail, the procedure of project co-financing. It also regulates, in more detail, the operations of the publishers of the media whose founders are national minority councils.

The establishment of the Single Information System for implementing and monitoring the co-financing of projects in the field of public information is also envisaged, which will influence the transparency of this process.

In addition to the existing Media Register, the Register of the Producers of Media Content is to be established as well. Also, for the first time, the law defines the self-regulating body Print Media Council.

Also, the Law on Public Information and Media provides journalists with employment protection, in line with the regulations in the field of the labor law, and which boosts the basis for the protection of professional journalistic integrity from the misuse of law and maltreatment aiming to prevent the freedom of public information.

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

The organizational, functional and financial independence of REM, its upgraded professionalism, as well as its responsibility toward the public, have been strengthened.

New organs have been established: Council – the decision-making organ and the director – the representation organ, as well as certain clear criteria for the selection of the members of the Council, which are much stricter compared to the previous law, the announcement adds.

Ministarstvo informisanja i telekomunikacija Republike Srbije

Regulatorno telo za elektronske medije Beograd

Ministry of Information and Telecommunications

REM

media laws

media laws adopted

Law on Public Information and Media

Law on Electronic Media

Single Information System for implementing and monitoring the cofinancing of projects in the field of public information

Registers of the Producers of Media Content

protection of journalists