It is necessary for the administrative judges to ascertain whether the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic have legitimately proceeded with the recent appointment of the members of the Communications Regulatory Authority and whether the administrative procedure followed by the latter was suitable to guarantee the same Authority adequate independence from the influences of parties and some market leaders over which the Authority itself is called to supervise.
It is in the secretariats of the parties or in the parliamentary halls that the members of
an independent authority?
This is the meaning of the appeal notified in the past to the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate,
to the Presidency of the Republic and to the members of AGCOM appointed in recent months at the conclusion of the "We want Transparency" campaign with which Open Media Coalition e
numerous associations representing Italian civil society they have long asked
to the Institutions to which the law entrusts the task of appointing the members of one of the Authorities
most important independent of our country to carry out this delicate task on
basis of a transparent and meritocratic mechanism, protected from party influences.
Unfortunately, as you know, this did not happen as Parliament allowed i
members appointed today were designated on the basis of the traditional mechanism
party division in the secretariats of the parties and limited himself to ratifying the work of these
latest.
It is not the competence or experience of the individual members that is the object of the dispute
appointed but the suitability of the procedure adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate
of the Republic to guarantee the country the best Guarantor Authority possible and,
above all, the most independent.
The Communications Regulatory Authority carries out in a country like Italy,
chronically ill with lack of pluralism, poor freedom of information and
serious delay in the dissemination of the Internet a fundamental and irreplaceable role for
democratic, social, cultural and economic development.
The only suspicion that it is less independent than required by law is
democratically unsustainable and could produce very serious consequences on the plan
juridical since if the procedure for appointing the members turns out to be flawed ed
illegitimate, all the acts adopted by the Authority would risk being overwhelmed.
It is probably the first time in Italy that civil society has asked the judges to
check whether the Institutions to which the law entrusts the appointment of the members of an Authority
independently have really done the interest of the country and, therefore, their duty or are,
instead, let yourself be guided by different interests capable of undermining independence at its roots
of the Authority.
The appeal was signed by Open Media Coalition, Digital Agora, Anso – National Association of Online Press, Association Article 21, FEMI – Federation of Independent Digital Media, Pannunzio Society for Freedom of Information and from Sen. Belisarius as a member of parliament of the Republic, injured in the exercise of his electoral rights.
Infoline: info@openmediacoalition.it – Skype openmediacoalition – www.vogliamotrasparenza.it
