16. 12. 2014

MEDIA COALITION: BUDGET PROPOSAL OF SRBOBRAN MUNICIPALITY CONTRARY TO MEDIA LAWS

Belgrade, 16 December 2014 - Media Coalition warns the public and responsible ministries that the budget proposal of the Srbobran Municipality contains a section intended for public information that is contrary to the new media laws.

Out of the total of 5 million dinars intended for public information in the budget proposal, it is envisaged that only 700.000 dinars is allocated through calls for proposals (appropriation 424), while a bulk of the money will be allocated as subsidies to private companies (appropriation 454), which is illegal. The subsidies contain those for advertising, which is forbidden not only by media regulation, but also by regulation on the control of state aid.

We remind the public that the new laws envisage that the funds intended for public information may be allocated exclusively by means of calls for proposals and independent committees, in accordance with the defined public interest and based on the principle of the allocation of state aid and protection of competition, and that individual disbursements may equal a maximum of 5% of funds.

Media Coalition will submit to the Srbobran Municipality its opinion on the Proposal on the Decision on the 2015 Budget. However, the Media Coalition calls for immediate reaction from responsible ministries (primarily the Ministry for State Administration and Local Self-Government, the Ministry of Finance, and also the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Commission for the Control of State Aid) towards preventing the adoption of the above explained budget proposal.

Media Coalition warns the responsible institutions of a possibility that other local self-governments ignore media laws in the same manner, thus humiliating the state and all those who participated in the years-long work on the new media legislation, which must not be permitted.

Media Coalition is also concerned by the fact that the Srbobran Municipality allocated an insufficient percentage of funds for public information (some 0,6% compared to the recommended 2%) and by the manner in which the municipality created the budget as it showed that it is not ready to take the responsibility for the development of public information at the local level in accordance with the interest of its citizens.

Members of the Media Coalition are: the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, the Journalists' Association of Serbia, the Association of Independent Electronic Media, the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina and the Association of Local Independent Media ‘Local Press'.

MEDIA COALITION