The team established by European Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes in October is to file a final report by the end of the year.

Report said the “extraordinary” concentration of powers in the Media Council gives rise to considerable concern.

As the same body interprets regulations and can issue potentially prohibitive fines against which defendants have no recourse to a court, pressure is created on the media, Vike-Freiberga said.

Media Council spokeswoman Karola Kiricsi said the panel had not obtained its information from appropriate sources.

She complained that the report drew on a study of Hungary’s media legislation by the CEU’s Center for Media and Communications Studies, which “contains serious errors”.

This could have been avoided, Kiricsi continued, if the group had considered a similar study prepared for the Media Council which the panel received a month ago.

The Media Council continues to be open for dialogue and is available for the team if they need information on the media law, Kiricsi said.

Vike-Freiberga said they are open to holding meetings outside Brussels, for example by travelling to Budapest.

“We are neither a court nor a police force. We generate thoughts,” she said."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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