The media Regulator, broadcasters and international experts have discussed simplification of the licensing in audiovisual sphere

The draft Law on Audiovisual Services aims to revise the approach to licensing in audiovisual sector of Ukraine. In order to share the European regulatory practices and develop local mechanisms, the Council of Europe in partnership with the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine (the Regulator) have organized an expert seminar.

The seminar "Regulatory framework for the transition from an individual licensing system to a general authorization system in the media sector" was held on 13-14 June 2016, in Kyiv. The seminar was organised within the Project “Freedom of media in Ukraine”, implemented in context of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) Programmatic Cooperation Framework (PCF) in partnership with the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine (National Council). “Unfortunately, trust in the Ukrainian media among the Ukrainians is declining. According to the recent research 35% of the Ukrainians do not trust the media in Ukraine. Adoption of the Law on Audiovisual Services could be the first step toward changing the situation and providing diverse and pluralistic media landscape. The Council of Europe is ready to provide support and expertise in this area”, noted Мårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.

Yuriy Artemenko, Chairman of the National Council said it was extremely valuable for the Ukrainian Regulator to receive detailed explanations about the principles and forms of licensing process in other European countries. Deregulation is one of the priorities for the National Council. A lot of issues have been accomplished already, but still there are issues that require legislative solution.

The current version of the draft Law on Audiovisual Services is under discussions before the registration in the Parliament since the beginning of the year.  In 2005, Ukraine took obligation before the Council of Europe to ensure that the new version of the legislation on television and radio broadcasting (which is a part of the Draft Law on Audiovisual Services) is in line with Council of Europe standards and with the recommendations of its experts. The Association Agreement with the EU indicates that Ukraine committed to align its media legislation with the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive within two years after the Agreement entered into force.

The seminar helped to rethink the current licensing system and consider a substantial simplification of procedures for distribution via platforms that do not rely on limited natural resources.

More than 60 representatives of media industry and the National Council participated in the seminar.

Ad van Loon (the Netherlands), Thierry Vachey (France) and Krisztina Rozgoniy (Austria), the Council of Europe experts shared their experience on the European practices in the area of licensing policy, existing requirements to the broadcasters receiving licenses, registrations and permits, and many other issues.

Through the seminar, Ukrainian experts learned the best European practices that will provide the basis for the national legislation in this area.

"Any licensing process opted for by the Ukrainian policy-makers should be developed in a way, so that fundamental international norms and standards on freedom of expression, press freedom and related human rights are implemented with due respect, with a special emphasis to provide for a transparent, fair and democratic process", noted Krisztina Rozgoniy.

Summing up of the seminar Ad van Loon noted that “the main challenge for Ukraine will be for the legislator to align the Law on Audiovisual Services with the requirements of the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications and for the regulator to develop tools for market research and analysis in order to better understand the relevant markets”.

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Background information: the Project “Freedom of media in Ukraine”, implemented within the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) Programmatic Cooperation Framework (PCF) is aimed to improve freedom, independence, pluralism and diversity of media in Ukraine. The total budget of the Project is 177 thousand euro. The project is financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe.  The project implementation period is 1 January - 31 December 2016. More information on the Project can be found on our Facebook page and website: