FINLAND

Expert assessment: appointing directors of public media

This statement is correct in that the 21 members of the Administrative Council are elected by the Finnish Parliament. However it is not correct that members are "representatives of non-governmental organizations" but rather that members shall include "representatives from the fields of science, art, education, business and economics, as well as representatives of different social and language groups."53 In practice this has been interpreted by lawmakers in such a way that the members represent all the different political parties in the Finnish Parliament. The Administrative Council does not have any direct formal power to appoint directors of Finland's public service media, the Yleisradio Oy (Yle) but rather the Council elects the external board of directors, which in turn has the power to appoint the company's director general. However, in practice the process of appointing the director general of Yle has traditionally involved negotiations between the Board, the Administrative Council and representatives of different political parties. Despite the involvement of political parties in electing members to administrative bodies, the Yle's independence from the Government and political parties is emphasised on all levels of its legal framework and internal editorial guidelines, and the company operates with a high level of independence, with no evidence of any direct governmental influence.

The administrative organs of Yle consist of the Administrative Council, the board of directors, and a director general, who also acts as the managing director.54 The Administrative Council is the highest decision-making organ of the Yle. The 21 members of the Council are elected by the Parliament and their terms of office correspond with the parliamentary term.55 Along with appointing members of the board of directors, the Administrative Council also supervises the implementation of the tasks involving public service programme activities and decides on the Yle's economic and operational guidelines. As a parliamentary organ, however, the Council is independent of the operational management of Yle. Since 2010, the Council has also taken on the role of supervising the preliminary assessment of significant new public service broadcasting services as required by EU regulations.56

As noted, the Council does not have direct power to appoint public service media directors, but it elects the company's external board of directors, which has the power to appoint the company's director general and other senior management.57 The board of directors consists of five to eight members who cannot be members of the Administrative Council or the company's senior management. The Board does not make any programming decisions, nor does it interfere in the daily operations or editorial decisions in any other way.

Although in practice the Yle has a large degree of operational independence from the Government, the political independence of Finland's public service media has been a permanently contested question, particularly in terms of its administrative structures, funding and appointment procedures. Historically, there have been many controversies around the process of nominating the director general and his/her political affiliations. More recently, the new role of the Administrative Council as the supervisory organ required by EU regulations has also raised some concerns. Representatives of commercial media in particular have argued for a new external supervisory body that is more independent of the other administrative organs of the company. In general, however, decisions concerning public service media have been agreed on by all political parties and the principle of political independence has been highly valued in Finland.

52 See "Criticism 9" in "Criticisms and answers formulated on the subject of the proposed media act examined in a European context," Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, December 20, 2010 available at: http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/criticisms-and-answers-formulated-on-the-subject-of-the-proposed-media-act-examined-in-a-european-context.
53 Section 6 of the Act on Yleisradio Oy (Act 1380/1993; amendments up to 635/2005), Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland, unofficial English translation available at: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1993/en19931380.pdf.
54 Finland's public service broadcasting system, including its administrative organization, is detailed in the Act on Yleisradio Oy (Act 1380/1993; amendments up to 635/2005), Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland, unofficial English translation available at: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1993/en19931380.pdf.
55 Appointment procedures and composition of the Administrative Council are defined in Section 5 and its duties in Section 6 of the Act on Yleisradio Oy (Act 1380/1993; amendments up to 635/2005); unofficial English translation available at: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1993/en19931380.pdf.
56 See Communication from the Commission on the application of State Aid Rules to Public Service broadcasting (2009), available at: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/broadcasting_communication_en.pdf
57 Act on Yleisradio Oy, Section 6a, (Act 1380/1993; amendments up to 635/2005), unofficial English translation available at: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1993/en19931380.pdf.