One of the provisions targeted is article 81, which states that the license of television and radio companies that go insolvent is suspended from the start of insolvency proceedings until the approval of their reorganization plan.
Valentin Jucan, member in the National Audiovisual Council (CAN), said Saturday the ordinance is “undemocratic and unconstitutional” and called on CNA head Laura Georgescu to resign for avoiding public debates on the provisions targeting the media.
Also, opposition Democratic Liberal Party leader Vasile Blaga said Friday the party would address the matter to European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding, arguing that some of the Code’s provisions are aimed to “repress the media.”
NGOs ActiveWatch and Reporteri fara Frontiere also condemned the lack of transparency in adopting the new Code, which has been approved through an emergency ordinance instead as a bill needing debate and a vote in Parliament.
Romania’s new Insolvency Code was published in the Official Journal Friday and will take effect on October 25.