Public Service Media and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
The EBU entrusted two human rights experts, Professor Walter Berka of Salzburg University and Professor Hannes Tretter of Vienna University, to carry out a study on public service media and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The final version of the study is now available.
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Final version of EBU study on PSM and freedom of expression published
The sudden decision by the Greek government in June 2013 to close down ERT S.A., the public service broadcaster in Greece and a founding Member of the EBU, prompted the EBU to examine in more detail the legal protection offered to public service media by the European Convention on Human Rights.
A first version of the Study commissioned by the EBU was presented in October at the EBU Legal and Public Affairs Assembly in Athens. There it served as a basis for a panel discussion with other experts in the fields of European law and constitutional law, namely Professor Jürgen Schwarze of the University of Freiburg, Professor Lorna Woods of the University of Essex and Mr. Dimitri Yernault of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
The general consensus that emerged from the debate was that the Convention gives existing public service broadcasters legal protection against State actions which are arbitrary or disproportionate, relative to legitimate aims a State may pursue.
Click here for the full study on Article 10 by Professors Berka and Tretter, commissioned by the EBU
Click here for the full study on Article 10 by Professors Berka and Tretter, commissioned by the EBU
Click here for the round table report