Ceaptar Leas-Phríomhfheidhmeannach an BAI mar Leas-Chathaoirleach ar an Ardán Eorpach Rialála

The Deputy Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), Ms. Celene Craig, will today (9thOctober) take on her official duties as Vice-Chairperson of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) at the group’s 40th meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia. EPRA is a platform of 52 regulatory authorities across Europe which provides a forum for the exchange of views and information on a wide variety of topics relevant to regulators. The European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Audiovisual Observatory and the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media are standing observers of the Platform.

Speaking in advance of the Tbilisi meeting, Ms. Craig said: “A key element of EPRA’s work programme in the current year is the review of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and this meeting will be focussed on examining future models of media regulation and what the regulatory responses to the new media landscape should be. Given the rapid evolution of the media landscape, issues that are of concern from a regulatory perspective include the role that digital ‘gatekeepers’ in content provision play and whether the distinction between linear and non-linear or on- demand content, which has been a bedrock of AVMSD, remains relevant given recent market developments. All of these considerations have implications with regard to public policy both at a national and an international level.”

“In my capacity as EPRA’s Vice-Chairperson, I look forward to facilitating this debate among the participating regulators and to contributing Ireland’s experience. In this regard, the BAI’s Chief Executive, Michael O’Keeffe, and I have been appointed as the Irish nominees to the European Commission’s European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Service (ERGA). The Group brings together representatives of national independent regulatory bodies in the field of audiovisual services, to advise the Commission in implementing the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) in a converged media age. In am confident that this participation will strengthen the BAI’s capacity to advise the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in relation to a national response on any revisions to the AVMSD.”

The Tbilisi meeting of EPRA will also debate matters of diversity and inclusion in the media and positive ways in which these principles can continue to be safeguarded, in addition to working groups focussing on user empowerment, digital radio and the independence of non-regulatory authorities.

-Ends-

Media Queries to:
Catherine Heaney/Tony Heffernan
DHR Communications
01 4200580 / 087 2309835 / 087 2399508

Editors Note:
Celene Craig is the Deputy Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and has worked with the BAI since its establishment in 2009, in addition to having worked with its predecessors the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the Independent Radio and Television Commission. Ms. Craig works primarily in the area of policy and was recently responsible for the completion of the five-year review of public funding for the public service broadcasters, RTÉ and TG4. She has also overseen the development and review of a number of statutory codes and rules and had responsibility for the Authority’s work in the area of Digital Terrestrial Television. Ms. Craig is one of two Authority nominees to the BAI’s statutory Contract Awards Committee. This Committee is responsible for the operation of licence application processes for broadcasting services and multiplex operations. More broadly, Ms. Craig’s role in the BAI also extends to matters of corporate governance and finance.

EPRA: Set up in April 1995 in Malta, the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities aims at providing a forum for informal discussion and exchange of views between regulatory authorities in the broadcasting field; for exchange of information about common issues of national and European broadcasting regulation; and for discussion of practical solutions to legal problems regarding the interpretation and application of broadcasting regulation.
Rather than pursuing national directives or acting as a tribune of common declarations, EPRA provides an open platform for discussions on a wide variety of relevant topics to regulators.
The Secretariat of the EPRA is based in Strasbourg (France) and is hosted by the European Audiovisual Observatory. The EPRA Board Association, a non-profit association under Alsatian law, is in charge of administering and legally representing the EPRA in its daily business. The Association is registered at the Association Registry of the Court of First Instance in Strasbourg.
For more information about EPRA please see: http://www.epra.org