Ukraine is speeding up legislative alignment with the rest of Europe as the war with Russia enters its second year.
In the media space, its parliament (Verkhovna Rada) adopted a draft law in December 2022 that will significantly change the rules governing the industry. The legislation, named “On Media”, is one of the requirements for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which at one stage was considered a distant prospect but could now come sooner than many think.
“On Media” has been in the making since 2012 and will replace several outdated laws. Controversial in parts – it grants, for instance, the regulator National Council more powers than it has at present – it nevertheless takes into account the requirements of the European Directive on Audiovisual Media Services, as well as the standards of the Council of Europe.
One of the key elements of “On Media” is the creation of a co-regulatory body named the e-cabinet, either later this year or in 2024. The legislation also sets out deadlines related to – amongst others – online and linear services.
Ukraine is certainly keen to learn from the experience of other countries and at the end of February Olha Herasymiuk, the chair of the National Council, took part in an event organised by the UK regulator Ofcom entitled “Shaping the future of media pluralism and online news”.
The National Council has also been working closely on a number of media projects with UNESCO and the two parties held a working meeting on February 24.
In another significant development, late last month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Ukrainian telecom regulator NCEC signed an MoU with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It envisages co-operation between the two on a number of issues including resilience of telecom infrastructure, new technologies and consumer protection.
All this points to Ukraine planning for a future in which its media and telecom industries are closely aligned with those in the West.
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