Región Administrativa y de Planificación Especial RAPE

Council shall examine market facts and circumstances important (hereinafter as: relevant) for the assessment of the level of concentration, in particular the media service provider’s average annual audience share for the previous calendar year, under the regulatory inspection as per the Act on the General Rules of Administrative Proceedings and Services, with the deviations defined under Paragraphs (2)-(6).

(2) In order to clarify the relevant facts and circumstances, the Media Council may require the media service providers to provide data in the course of its regulatory inspection, by way of an order. No independent legal remedy shall be available against the order; the order may be challenged in a legal remedy procedure brought against the decision on the merits made in a procedure that may follow the regulatory inspection and is aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power.

(3) In the event of failure to provide data or upon inadequate provision of data, the Media Council may, pursuant to Article 175 (8), impose a procedural fine. Over and above the fine, if the data are not provided or if data are provided inadequately, the Media Council shall be entitled to, and in case of a repeated breach of law, shall be obliged to impose a fine ranging from fifty thousand forints to three million forints on the officer or registered representative, as per Article 45 (1) (ad), of the media service provider found in breach of the law.

(4) The following shall be taken into account when determining audience share, or added to the audience share

a) the audience share of all linear media services distributed by the media service provider on the territory of Hungary,

b) the audience share of the linear media services distributed on the territory of Hungary by media service providers in whom the affected media service provider has a qualifying holding, and

c) the audience share of linear media services distributed on the territory of Hungary by a media service provider in whom any owner of the affected media service provider, or the owner of the owner thereof has a qualifying holding.

(5) If, based on the regulatory inspection, the Media Council established that there is a circumstance providing grounds for conducting a procedure aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power, then, notwithstanding the relevant provisions of the Act on the General Rules of Administrative Proceedings and Services, it shall only decide to launch the procedure in an order.

(6) No procedure shall be launched by the Media Council if it establishes on the basis of the regulatory inspection that neither the media service provider affected by the rules restricting media market concentration identified in the decision made earlier as per Paragraph (7), nor the group of media service providers with significant market power identified in the decision as per Paragraph (7) or in the public contract as per Paragraph (10) have changed.

(7) In the procedure aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power, the Media Council shall identify the media service provider affected by the rules restricting media market concentration as per Article 68 or the media service provider with significant market power as per Article 69 in a regulatory decision, and shall decide on the termination of such status determined in its earlier decision.

(8) In its decision made within the framework of a procedure aimed at identifying media service providers with significant market power, the Media Council shall also define the exact contents of the obligations imposed on the media service provider with significant market power pursuant to Article 32 and Articles 38-39, taking into account the assessment criteria defined therein.

(9) A review of the Media Council’s decision made within the framework of the procedure aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power may be requested from the Budapest Administrative and Labour Court by the client and by any other participant in the proceeding as regards the provisions expressly applicable to him/her, within fifteen days of the decision’s announcement, on the grounds of breach of law.

(9a) The Media Council shall forward the statement of claim, together with the documents and representations of the case, to the Budapest Administrative and Labour Court within fifteen days of receipt thereof. The court shall assess the statement of claim for a judicial review within sixty days from the submission of the statement of claim by the Media Council to the court and shall put down its decision in writing until the day of its announcement. No appeal may be lodged against the decision of the court and no retrial can be requested. The petition for review of the decision can be lodged within fifteen days from announcement of the decision, with the provision that the petition for review must be actually received by the Budapest Administrative and Labour Court within the time limit set for filing. If this deadline (limitation period) is missed, no petition for excuse will be accepted. The Curia shall assess the petition for review within sixty days and shall put down its decision in writing within this deadline. The Budapest Administrative and Labour Court and the Curia shall hold an accelerated procedure. The court shall have the right to change the decision of the Media Council.

(10) In the procedure aimed at identifying media service providers with significant market power, the Media Council, rather than issuing a decision, may also conclude a public contract with the media service provider in order to identify whether the media service provider has significant market power and to define the exact contents of the obligations imposed on the media service provider with significant market power pursuant to Article 32 and Articles 38-39. In such case, the parties may depart from the assessment criteria for determining the obligations specified in Article 32 and Articles 38-39 with the provision that the media service provider with significant market power may not be exempted, not even in the public contract, from its obligations defined therein.

(11) The Media Council shall conduct its procedure aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power, with the deviations determined under Paragraph (6), by 30 September each year. When identifying media service providers with significant market power, their average audience share during the previous calendar year shall be taken into account. Media service providers with significant market power shall

fulfil their obligations from 1 January of the year following the Media Council’s decision. The Media Council’s decision made within the framework of the procedure aimed at the prevention of media market concentration and at identifying media service providers with significant market power and also the public contract concluded shall remain in force until the entry into force of the subsequent decision made, or public contract concluded on the same subject as a result of a procedure conducted in the following year.

(12) For the purposes of Paragraphs (1)-(11), sales revenue shall mean the net sales revenue achieved by the participant of the procedure through sales relating to media service activities in the course of the previous business year.

Rules Governing Media Service Providers of Analogue Linear Radio Media Services Acquiring Media Service Provision Rights by Virtue of a Public Contract or Broadcasting

Agreement

Article 71 (1) Those authorised to provide analogue linear radio media services based on a public