Maltese Minister Dr Emmanuel Mallia and the new Chairman of PBS, Tonio Portughese, at the EBU General Assembly (EBU)
© Photo Credit: Stefano Santucci

The 70^th General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)  opened this morning in Malta. The conference provides a unique forum for debate and discussion among the EBU Community.

Delegates at the two-day Assembly were officially welcomed to the conference by the Maltese Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Dr Emmanuel Mallia, who stressed the importance of public service media (PSM) as a pillar of democratic society.

He said that it is priority of the Maltese government to support a "balanced and professional" national broadcaster, adding that his government looked forward to discussing a renewed national broadcasting policy with the EBU.

Delegates were also addressed by Tonio Portughese, the new chairman of Malta’s public broadcaster PBS, which is hosting this year’s Assembly. He wished participants fruitful discussions with plenty of learning opportunities and knowledge sharing.

The morning session will be taken up with general business and the presentation of financial results and reports from members of the Executive Board.

From the EBU, President Jean-Paul Philippot was the first to take the floor. He expressed serious concerns at the continued “black screen” of Greece’s public broadcaster. “The country's highest court ordered the return to air of public service broadcasting in Greece as soon as possible. Yet ERT channels remain black,” he said.

In a report tabled to the Assembly, Mr Philippot said the key to promoting the distinctiveness of public service media – both now and in the future – lies in "the enactment of the core values" that unite Europe's biggest union of broadcasters.  

Mr Philippot said the Executive Board "fully supports the work undertaken within the framework of the EBU Partnership Programme to integrate the values – and ensuing Editorial Guidelines – into the organization of regional conferences, as well as providing training assistance to Members in the EU neighbouring countries in South East Europe focusing on PSM Values for journalists."

He illustrated the efforts of the permanent services and Members’ committees across all areas to promote a stable legal, technical and financial framework for PSM, and highlighted the duty of EBU Members to be independent, pluralistic and sustainable.

Mr Philippot said they needed to be at the forefront of new multimedia, multiplatform developments, ushering Europe into the digital age, and meeting growing audience demands for access to content whenever and wherever required.

The crucial value of public service media to democracy was further illustrated in a powerful video created by ERT employees and presented at the General Assembly by the EBU President.