MAJORITY IN FAVOUR OF RESTRICTIONS FOR CONCENTRATION ON MEDIA MARKET

ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - For the sake of pluralism of the media, a new law on the media must limit concentration on the media market in a similar way the existent law on the matter has regulated this, rather than by general rules on the protection against monopoly on the market, said the majority of participants in a public debate which the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) organised on Friday.#L# Most media experts and reporters as well as representatives of nongovernmental organisations agreed that the new law should not annul Article 33 of the existent law on the media, which regulates the restrictions in concentration. They added that the existent solution should only be elaborated in order to be clear and feasible. The state secretary in the Croatian culture ministry, Jadran Antolovic, said the media law, which was revoked by the Constitutional Court because it had not been adopted by the required two-thirds majority, was good and that the ministry proposed its re-adoption with the elaboration of a dozen articles. All participants in the debate agreed that the law should be adopted by 30 April, a time term defined by the Constitutional Court. Otherwise, there would a legal vacuum in this area. Former Culture Minister Antun Vujic is satisfied that instead of the revoked law, an almost identical law was being proposed as the former had presented progress in media legislation. However, the lack of an article regulating the restriction of concentration is a step backward, Vujic said, adding that the previous solution removed any possibility that somebody might buy all the media. Antolovic said the ministry opted for using general regulations to prevent monopoly and entrusted the agency for the protection of market competition to do this job. Antolovic believes that Article 33 is ambiguous and hard to implement. Most participants in the debate advocated the elaboration of Article 33 rather than its revocation, (Hina) ms sb