Eka Beselia, Chairperson of Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee stated that according to the existing legislation, the authorities and duties of General Director of Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and Board of Trustees are tangled creating the serious problems in practice.

At today’s plenary session Eka Beselia spoke about the new regulations provided by the legislative package and noted that the Council of Europe office was actively involved in the process of preparation of the draft law.

According to Beselia, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has prepared a bill for the experts and there are two conclusions, including the conclusion issued by the Director General of the Council of Europe.

“The international expertise is very important, which deserves great attention; as we cannot be cut off from the international standards and these regulations require external expertise and monitoring.

These conclusions are positive. The European Broadcasting Union has discussed the issues concerning to procurement, management and advertising and issued positive conclusions. Allowing exception inthe Procurement Rule is considered as a positive factor and European Broadcasting Union supports it.

In terms of management, the draft envisages separation of authorities and duties of General Director and Board of Trustees, which are so tangled according to the existing legislation that create a serious problem in practice.  The European Broadcasting Union believes that these two important bodies should balance the activities of the Public Broadcaster”, – Beselia said.

Discussion about the package of amendments proposed to be made into Law on Broadcasting has been held at the plenary session of the parliament through the first hearing today.