Recommendation 2074 (2015)

Increasing transparency of media ownership

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 24 June 2015 (24th Sitting) (see Doc. 13747, report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, rapporteur: Ms Gülsün Bilgehan). Text adopted by the Assembly on 24 June 2015 (24th Sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers to its Resolution 2065 (2015) on increasing transparency of media ownership and draws the attention of member States to a growing lack of transparency of the ownership structures of media outlets in Europe. This tendency is alarming in view of the transparency and pluralism requirements for media under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and other Council of Europe standards.

2. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

2.1. review and further develop Council of Europe standards in this field, in particular its Recommendation No. R (94) 13 on measures to promote media transparency and Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)2 on media pluralism and diversity of media content;

2.2. invite the European Audiovisual Observatory of the Council of Europe to consider extending its action in line with the technological convergence of digital media and report, for instance in the framework of its MAVISE database (database on TV and on-demand audiovisual services and companies in Europe), on media ownership;

2.3. co-operate with the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), in order to:

2.3.1. increase compliance with transparency standards in all member States;

2.3.2. co-ordinate common action by regulatory authorities, with a view to avoiding geographic lacunae in Europe;

2.3.3. provide targeted support to enhance the implementation of transparency standards at national level;

2.4. invite associations of media outlets, such as the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP), the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC Europe), the Association of Commercial Television in Europe, the European Broadcasting Union and the European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA), to set up, in a co-ordinated way, ethical standards on transparency of media ownership.