Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-16-Speech-3-514-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110216.17.3-514-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the Socialist and Democrat Group of course welcome the advance in the four key areas of balanced information, the country-of-origin principle, and so on. Commissioner, of course we welcome it. That was the text of our resolution; that was the pressure we were placing on you and the Hungarian authorities to deliver.
First of all, I have to ask you about the timing. Was it purely coincidence, as you were waiting in the airport as you said, or was it the fact that pressure by this Parliament has brought forward four key amendments in the four key areas we asked for? Please let us know those concessions have been secured. Of course Parliament has still not been able to see the text of the negotiations between the Commission and the Hungarian authorities; therefore we require more time to fully state our position on the matter. However, it seems clear that negotiations have not fully addressed many other serious concerns of this Parliament and, of course, of our Socialist and Democrat Group.
Crucial issues still unanswered include the composition and time frame of the media authority and of the Media Council, which are politically homogenous and still exert pervasive and centralised governmental, judicial and political control on all media. We need answers on where we go on this crucial issue. Furthermore, it is regrettable that the Commission has not acted upon the recommendations of Parliament, the Council of Europe, the Commissioner, and the OSCE for example, on the violation of the principle of confidentiality of journalistic sources, extremely disproportionate sanctions, and abolishing the political and financial independence of public service broadcast media.
There is a list, Commissioner, which you know of, which still needs to be answered and we need these questions to be answered, preferably in this debate. Obviously we commend the Hungarian authority’s willingness to amend the legislation. We also encourage the implementation of amendments to address the outstanding areas of concern for all of us in this Parliament, whilst fully embracing the spirit of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and, in particular, Article 11, which protects the freedom of expression. We would like further answers on whether you believe Article 11 has been fulfilled. We must involve civil society and stakeholders to uphold principles of transparency and accountability and to ensure best practice.
Commissioner, we tabled a resolution for our group because we wanted the concessions that you have already announced, but we want more. Democracies are built upon the principle of a free and independent media. We make no apologies within our group for firmly defending this principle and we will do everything in our power to protect it, for Hungarians and all EU citizens."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples