Deliberation of July 12, 2011 setting the conditions for enforcing article 29-3 of the law of September 30, 1986 relating to CTAs.

Deliberation no. 2011-31 of July 12, 2011 setting the conditions for application of article 29-3 of the law of September 30, 1986 relating to territorial audiovisual committees.

French Superior Audiovisual Council,
Having regard to law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication, in particular article 29-3;
Having regard to decree no. 2011-732 of June 24, 2011 on the technical committees provided for in article 29-3 of amended law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on freedom of communication;
Having regard to Council Decision no. 2011-471 of July 12, 2011 setting the rules of procedure for the territorial audiovisuel committees and their general rules of organization and operation;
After deliberation,

Resolves:

Chapter 1: Scope of application
Article 1
The territorial audiovisual committees referred to in article 29-3 of the law of September 30, 1986, give rulings on local radio stations within their territorial jurisdiction:
1° On the renewal of authorizations issued in application of articles 29 and 29-1 of the same law, under the conditions set out in article 28-1 thereof;
2° On requests for non-substantial modifications to the elements of the authorization or agreement, which do not call into question the choices made when the authorization was issued;
3° On the issuance of temporary authorizations under article 28-3 of the same law.
1° and 2° of the present article apply to local radio services known as "category A", fulfilling a mission of local social communication and whose commercial resources from brand advertising or sponsorship are less than 20% of their total sales. They also apply to independent local or regional "category B" radio stations, which do not show a nationally identified program, provided they are allocated frequencies within the territorial jurisdiction of a single committee.
In the case of Category A radio stations, where several territorial audiovisual committees are concerned by the decisions referred to in this article, the territorial audiovisual committee competent to give a ruling, under the conditions set out in this resolution, is the one within whose jurisdiction the head office of the artificial person holding the authorization is located. The competent committee may request the opinion of the other territorial committees concerned within a time limit that it determines.

Article 2
The committees organize, within their territorial jurisdiction, the consultations provided for in article 31 of the law of September 30, 1986, when requested to do so by the plenary assembly of the Conseil. They shall forward a summary of the responses received.

Chapter 2: Proceedings
Article 3
The decisions of the territorial audiovisual committees referred to in Article 1 are forwarded to the central services of the French Superior Audiovisual Council. They become enforceable fifteen days after their receipt by the latter, in the absence of an express decision by its plenary assembly taken within this period on the basis of article 4 of the present deliberation. They may not be notified or published until the said period has elapsed.
The time limit referred to in the first paragraph may be extended to one month, or reduced to twenty-four hours in the event of an emergency, by express decision of the Chairman or Managing Director of the Council, taken after consulting the Chairman of the working group concerned.

Article 4
Within the time limit laid down in Article 3, the plenary meeting of the French Superior Audiovisual Council may decide:
- either to request the Comité Territorial de l'Audiovisuel to hold a second deliberation, leading to a decision by the Committee within a maximum of fifteen days from receipt of the Council's request. In the event of a demand for further investigation, the decision of the Comité Territorial de l'Audiovisuel is made within a maximum period of one month. In the absence of a decision within this timeframe, the initial deliberation is deemed confirmed and may be referred to the plenary meeting of the Council;
- evoke the case, where appropriate after the second deliberation. The decision of the plenary assembly replaces that of the committee, which is deemed to have given its prior opinion.
The Council informs the Chairman of the Committee of its demand for a second deliberation or of its decision to evoke the matter by letter, stating its reasons.

Article 5
In the absence of an express decision taken by the plenary assembly of the French Superior Audiovisual Council within the time limit set out in Article 3, the chairman of the territorial audiovisual committee signs the acts necessary to implement the decisions taken by the latter and notifies them.
Authorizations issued by the committees and decisions accepting modifications or renewals thereof are published in the Journal officiel de la République française.

Article 6
In accordance with article 20 of the decree of June 24, 2011, prior to the exercise of a contentious appeal before the competent administrative jurisdiction, the decisions of the territorial audiovisual committees are subject to an appeal before the plenary assembly of the French Superior Audiovisual Council within two months of their notification or publication.
The submission of a case before the plenary assembly preserves the time limit for the contentious appeal until the intervention of its decision.
The proceedings defined in the present article also apply to interested third parties.

Chapter 3: Transitional and final provisions
Article 7
The present deliberation is applicable throughout the territory of the Republic.

Article 8
Decision no. 2009-84 of November 10, 2009 is abrogated. The present resolution, which will be published in the Journal officiel de la République française, will be effective from October 1, 2011.

Paris, July 12, 2011.

For the French Superior Audiovisual Council :
the Chairman,
M. Boyon