The Network enlarges and strengthens
The 7th meeting of the Mediterranean Regulatory Authorities took place in Paris on the 11th and 12th July 2005. Two new memberships were approved at this occasion: the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle (HACA) of Morocco, and the Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting of Israel (CCTSB). The President of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), the Minister of Information of the Palestinian Authority, representatives of the Conseil National de l'Audiovisuel of Lebanon, of the Audiovisual Commission of Jordan, of Egyptian television, and of the European Commission also attended the discussions as guests. Two main themes were discussed: the audiovisual regulation in the era of convergence and new technologies, and freedom of communication and programmes monitoring. The consolidation of the Network was also evoked, and the creation of a website dedicated to the Network activities decided.
The 8th meeting of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities took place in Barcelona from the 5th till the 7th July, 2006 on the invitation of the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya.
In Barcelona, the Network decided to accept two new members : the Republic Broadcasting Agency of Serbia and the Consejo audiovisual d'Andalucia .
The Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) by its President, le Conseil National de l' Audiovisuel of Lebanon, the Audiovisual Commission of Jordan, The Montenegrin Broadcasting Agency, the Consejo audiovisual de Navarra, the Conférence permanente des opérateurs audiovisuels en Méditerranée (COPEAM), the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Observatory of Children TV attended the meeting as guests.
During the five plenary sessions of the meeting, the following topics were discussed : the circulation of audiovisual works in the Mediterranean area, intellectual property challenges of audiovisual works vis-a-vis digitalization, the news and developments of the Council of Europe in the audiovisual field, the television and minors and the revision of the European Union Directive "Television without Frontiers.
Mr. Josep Carbonnel, President of the Consell de l' Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC), will hold the presidency of the Network until the next meeting which will take place in Morocco in 2007, at the invitation of the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle (HACA). The vice-presidency of the Network will, consequently, be held by Mr. Ahmed Ghazali, President of the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle of Morocco.
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