The draft law, which involves a series of amendments and additions to audiovisual legislation and has generated much debate and criticism in the public sphere, provides, among other things, for the removal of parliamentary control over Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) and interventions in the mechanisms for appointing and dismissing members of the Broadcasting Council (BC) and the TRM Supervisory and Development Council (SDC), which were established in 2021 and for which the authorities have been criticized by the international community.
The draft was developed by the Working Group on Improving Media Legislation, which includes representatives of several non-governmental organizations in the field and members of the relevant parliamentary committee. The document was registered with Parliament on 29 May. According to the explanatory note, the Media Services Code needs to be amended to bring audiovisual legislation into line with EU standards in the context of the European integration process. This mainly concerns the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the European Act on Media Freedom and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
At the same time, the amendments are intended to respond to new challenges in the field, including: the ambiguous definition of certain terms; the growing influence of video-sharing platforms, which are not adequately regulated and can facilitate the dissemination of illegal or harmful content; the lack of strict transparency mechanisms regarding the ownership and financing of media service providers, and others.
MECHANISMS TARGETING TRM
Firstly, the authors propose to review the amendments to the audiovisual legislation that, in autumn 2021, brought the public media service provider back under parliamentary control and interfered with the mechanisms guaranteeing the independence of the Broadcasting Council (BC) and Teleradio-Moldova (TRM).
Thus, the general director of TRM would once again be appointed through a public competition by the Supervisory Board, and not by Parliament, as is currently the case following the 2021 amendments. The Director General will be appointed by decision of the Council, and if no appointment is possible, the Council will repeat the competition within 30 days of the date on which it was established that it was impossible to appoint a new Director General. Their term of office will be reduced from seven to five years, with the possibility of renewal once.
The composition of the Supervisory Board (now called the Supervisory and Development Board) will also be changed so that no members will be appointed by parliamentary factions: four members will be elected by the Board of Directors and five members by the Press Council. Consequently, changes will also be made to the competition and appointment procedures, and the Council will report annually to the BC rather than to Parliament.
Changes to the composition of the Board of Directors are also proposed: two members proposed by Parliament, representing the parliamentary majority and opposition (instead of three, as is currently the case); one member proposed by the head of state; one member proposed by the Superior Council of Magistracy (instead of the Government); three members proposed by civil society organisations, selected through a public competition. In addition, unlike the current provisions, the term of office of BC members will be renewable. Furthermore, BC members will no longer be able to lose their seats if they are found to have failed to perform their duties properly or if a parliamentary review finds that their work has been inadequate.
CONTEXT
Media Azi previously reported that, in autumn 2021, MPs promoted two draft amendments to the Audiovisual Media Services Code. The first allows any parliamentary majority to dismiss BC members, thereby making the authority politically subordinate, and the second reintroduces into the national legal framework mechanisms involving the direct involvement of Parliament in the appointment and dismissal (on unclear grounds) of the TRM’s management and supervisory bodies. The amendments have been widely criticised by media NGOs, foreign institutions and international experts.
Most recently, in March 2025, a new decision by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe welcomed the authorities’ intention to review the amendments in question. The decision was issued as part of the monitoring process of the authorities’ implementation of the judgment in the case of Manole and Others v. Moldova, which was examined in an advanced procedure in Strasbourg in June 2022. The Committee of Ministers “welcomed the initiation of amendments to the Audiovisual Media Services Code to introduce safeguards aimed at ensuring the independence of the Broadcasting Council and the public service broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova and preventing any unjustified political control over them”. The findings come one year after the previous decision on this issue, when Chisinau was asked to amend the law “without delay”.
The first debates on the proposals were held in Parliament on June 9. The subject of legislative mechanisms relating to the BC and TRM was not addressed. However, other provisions of the draft law sparked discontent and criticism, including accusations of attempts at “censorship” by the ruling party. The main issues discussed were trusted notifiers, the regulation of illegal content and video-sharing platforms, and the definition of disinformation. The chair of the Parliament’s media committee, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, suggested a ten-day deadline for submitting proposals.
Media Azi will return with more information on the other amendments proposed in the draft amendment to the Media Services Code.