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Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to ascertain who owns broadcast, print or online media in Switzerland via information reported under media-specific or company law. Swiss law does not go very far in respect of transparency requirements compared to other countries, being based more on the principle of confidentiality or secrecy. The broadcast media are covered by the Law on Radio and Television which contains unclear and vague provisions on disclosure of ownership to the media authority. For example, it is not clear whether beneficial

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to find out who owns print, online or broadcast media in the Spain through media-specific or company laws. The broadcast media and online media are regulated by the General Statute on Audiovisual Communication. The statute does not requires disclosure of all the basic data required to establish ownership, since the names and contact details of owners is not required and nor is the identity of beneficial owners through brokerage. The link between political powers and the audiovisual media in

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? Under the strict definition of what constitutes transparency of media ownership, as stated above, it is not possible to find out who owns the print, online or broadcast media in Romania. However, it may be possible identify owners using corporate law if both significant time and money is invested. Only the broadcast media are covered by any media-specific law. The Audiovisual Law no.504 requires disclosure of all the information needed to identify ownership of the media in Romania apart from beneficial ownership. However,

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is possible to finds out who owns print, broadcast and online media in Norway through information reported to the Norwegian Media Authority. Under the 1997 Media Ownership Act, on the request of the Norwegian Media Authority, all media must report sufficient information for their owners to be identified. It should be noted that, in common with Luxembourg and the UK, the Norwegian law does not specify exactly what information should be reported but relies on the media authority to request from the

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to find out who owns print, online or broadcast media in the Netherlands through media-specific or company laws. The Media Act does not require broadcast media (and some online media) to submit the basic data required to establish ownership; for example, there is no disclosure of those with significant interest or indirect control and changes in the size of shareholdings only have to be disclosed once every five years when the licence is renewed (except for radio stations with

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is completely impossible to find out who owns the media – or any other company - in Morocco. The Moroccan media market is very limited because of the lack of freedom of speech, a lack of political pluralism and the high rate of illiteracy. Print media are covered by the Press and Publishing Code which does not require disclosure of the basic data required to ascertain ownership, such as those with indirect control or a significant interest. Beneficial ownership is not an

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? The public in Macedonia are able to find out who owns broadcast media via the ownership reporting obligations under the Law on Broadcasting Activity. All the essential information outlined above must be disclosed to the Broadcasting Council and made public via its website. Macedonia is unusual in banning silent shareholders of broadcasters (ie secret ownership or ownership by proxy): this means that all beneficial shareholders must be declared. The same law also requires broadcasters to report ownership information directly to the public but

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? It is not possible to find out who owns print, online or broadcast media in Luxembourg through media-specific or company laws. The Law on the Electronic Media, which covers broadcast and online media, does not specifically set out ownership disclosure obligations but does allow the possibility that ownership information can be requested for all forms of electronic media which require a licence. This is via the “book of obligations” which is attached to each licence or permit granted by Luxembourg . For example,

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? In Latvia, information on ownership of the media is not available to the public; neither media-specific nor company laws require disclose to the public sufficient information for ultimate owners to be identified. The Law on the Press and Other Mass Media which covers print, online and broadcast media, requires the media to register with the Commercial Register and to disclose ownership information to the Commercial Register according to the provisions of the Commercial Law. The information to be disclosed includes most of the

Can the public find out who owns the media through free access to the essential information required? Neither media-specific nor corporate law reveal information on ownership of media outlets in Italy. Law No. 249 of 31 July 1997, which establishes the communication authority (AGCOM) and covers print, online and broadcast media, requires different levels disclosure depending on whether a media outlet is a registered company or not, with more stringent reporting requirements for those which are. For example the name and contact details of the owner only need be disclosed for media which are registered companies and more detailed information