Download "Media law and policy in selected Black Sea region countries" here

We're focusing on five Council of Europe member countries all located in the Black Sea region. These countries share criticism by international organisations regarding often similar shortcomings in the regulation of their audiovisual media. And although none of them is yet a member of the European Union, all of them aspire to join the organisation, and therefore have committed themselves to aligning their legislation with the European media standards. What consequences does this have for their audiovisual legislation, if any?  Read our new report!

This new report - Media law and policy in in selected Black Sea region countries - is authored by Prof. Andrei Richter of Comenius University, Bratislava.

Chapter one opens with an overview of current audiovisual law in the five countries analysed in this new report: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Türkiye, and Ukraine. The snapshot comparisons in this chapter are based on the work of the OSCE's observations missions during elections carried out between 2020 and 2023. This first chapter also looks at the constitutions of each country and the guarantees they provide concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The chapter concludes with an overview of the "audiovisual statutes" or main legal texts concerning the media industries in each of the five countries.

Chapter two provides a comparative review of the state of legal regulation of audiovisual media in the five countries. As part of the accession process to the EU, their authorities have committed to adopting legislation in the audiovisual field that is in line with the EU's media law. The author examines the role and legal basis for the national regulatory authority in each country. He then focuses on the public service media, its governance and degree of political independence. Crucial to the democratic process are the rules applicable to audiovisual media during election periods. This chapter therefore also analyses the rules in place in each country to guarantee impartiality and fairness in the media during elections. The chapter is rounded off by a useful overview of media ownership regulation and media law pertaining to disinformation.

Chapter three looks at how these five countries are rated by international organisations in terms of their respect of the fundamental right of freedom of expression which forms the bedrock of the European Union. The author relies on two instances: the World Press freedom Index by the Reporters without Borders, and evaluation by the EU itself in terms of accession requirements.
 
Chapter four rounds up the analysis of the audiovisual legal environment in the five countries highlighting their significant diversities and commonalities. With the exception of Ukraine, which is under martial law, it is highly polarised and subject to considerable political and business pressure.

A must-read new free report to understand how five Black Sea region countries are revising their media legislation to align with the European Union.

Brexit marks the emergence of the UK as a powerful European but non-EU player on world audiovisual markets. How can we understand the seismic shifts in the European markets post-Brexit? The European Audiovisual Observatory has just launched the 2020/2021 edition of its online Yearbook. With its coverage of 40 European countries and Morocco, the Yearbook provides a unique overview of what’s happening in the audiovisual sector with:

• 287 tables 
• 40 country fact sheets
• This new 2020/20201 edition includes the data range of 2015 to 2019 

A single user subscription costs 370 euros and multi-user access costs 800 euros. Subscribe here.
We offer a free subscription to selected media journalists. For further information contact: [email protected]

So what are the new post-Brexit changes we can expect in the media markets?

• The EU loses a TV channel hub.

The UK has hitherto been the main hub for the establishment of TV channels in the EU. Other non-European Union countries hosting a large number of TV channels include Russia and Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Switzerland, Albania and Georgia.

European channels established outside the European Union (proforma, 2019)

Note: includes all European countries members of the European Audiovisual Observatory
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory/MAVISE Database

• Due to Brexit, the European Union loses 14% of the European TV advertising market.

The European Union‘s weight on the European audiovisual market obviously decreases with Brexit. It will for instance capture only 73% of the European market, vs. 87% before the Brexit.

• Due to Brexit, the European Union loses 11% of its pay-TV subscribers and 23% of its SVOD subscribers. 

• But the UK joins a very diverse club post BREXIT. 

Outside the European Union, European countries present very different profiles in terms of media concentration. The audience share of the main TV groups is slightly lower than in the EU, with strong differences between countries.

Audience share of the 4 main broadcasting groups (%, 2019)

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory analysis of Glance data.

The yearbook 2020/2021: all the key data to understand the market shifts in Europe after Brexit.