National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia / Activities / Activity details
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
27th Sitting of the Culture and Information Committee
At the 27th sitting, held on 10 June, the Culture and Information Committee deliberated on the Initiative to amend Article 23 of the Value Added Tax Law, as well as the request of the Creative Industry Association – Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Initiative to launch proceedings for the election of members of the National Council for Culture.
Committee member Sasa Mirkovic moved that the Committee endorse his Initiative to amend Article 23 of the Value Added Tax Law to reduce the VAT on daily, monograph and serial publications from 10 to 5%. The ensuing discussion was joined by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, print media, media associations and the Secretary General of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia. They agreed that the reasons for the amendment stem from the dire economic situation caused by the decreased circulation of print media due to the use of alternative sources of information.
“We cannot disregard the fact that publishers, by employing a great many people, play an important role in Serbia’s economy”, said Committee member Srdjan Dragojevic, stressing that he supported the initiative to cut VAT and adding that the same should also be applied to theatre and cinema tickets.
The Committee members endorsed both initiatives by majority vote, and Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic asked the proposers to submit their initiatives in the form of bills.
Elaborating on the request of the Creative Industry Association – Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Dragojevic said that, annually, the Ministry of Culture and Media invests considerable funds into contemporary art about which most Serbian citizens are poorly informed, especially in the spheres of literature, art and theatre. Considering this, the Committee discussed and adopted conclusions to send to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) which would in turn decide that, within an hour of TV and radio air-time (shows and commercials) a minute be secured for culture, free of charge. The commercials per hour would last 5+1 minute on the Public Service, and 12+1 on TV channels with national coverage and local/city TV stations. The Committee said that projects supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media should be prioritised and the decision on the selection of projects should be done by the National Council for Culture.
The Committee then went on to authorise Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic to inform the relevant ministry and authorised submitters to launch proceedings for the election of members of the National Council for Culture, considering that the number of Council members has been reduced by four.
The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic.
“We cannot disregard the fact that publishers, by employing a great many people, play an important role in Serbia’s economy”, said Committee member Srdjan Dragojevic, stressing that he supported the initiative to cut VAT and adding that the same should also be applied to theatre and cinema tickets.
The Committee members endorsed both initiatives by majority vote, and Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic asked the proposers to submit their initiatives in the form of bills.
Elaborating on the request of the Creative Industry Association – Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Dragojevic said that, annually, the Ministry of Culture and Media invests considerable funds into contemporary art about which most Serbian citizens are poorly informed, especially in the spheres of literature, art and theatre. Considering this, the Committee discussed and adopted conclusions to send to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) which would in turn decide that, within an hour of TV and radio air-time (shows and commercials) a minute be secured for culture, free of charge. The commercials per hour would last 5+1 minute on the Public Service, and 12+1 on TV channels with national coverage and local/city TV stations. The Committee said that projects supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media should be prioritised and the decision on the selection of projects should be done by the National Council for Culture.
The Committee then went on to authorise Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic to inform the relevant ministry and authorised submitters to launch proceedings for the election of members of the National Council for Culture, considering that the number of Council members has been reduced by four.
The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Vesna Marjanovic.