Nicolau Santos addressed the parliamentary commission on Culture, Communication, Youth, and Sports in the wake of the resignation of the television information directorate and the company’s reorganization, following requests by the Livre and the PS.
In response to inquiries from the PS regarding legal procedures not being followed, particularly the prior consultation with the Editorial Board, Santos stated: “Under the law, the appointment and dismissal of those responsible for informational content require the ERC’s [Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social] prior and binding opinion.”
“This procedure has always been followed, as it has been since 2005,” he emphasized.
“Since 2005, I stress, RTP sent the ERC the rationale for the changes and the resumes of new appointees,” he reiterated.
The consultation with the Editorial Board as outlined by law “is not binding, as you know, it has no set deadline or form and does not demand it takes place before the request for a binding opinion from the ERC,” explained Nicolau Santos.
This understanding has tacitly been agreed upon by the regulator for nearly two decades, which is comprehensible since the appointment is only finalized after a favorable opinion from the ERC.
“Now, unexpectedly on this occasion, and we obviously respect this, the ERC changed that understanding and deemed that the consultation with the Editorial Board should have taken place before their own pronouncement,” he added.
Faced with this, the “RTP notes this change in position with surprise, but in the name of institutional stability, will adhere to the new interpretation and adjust its future procedures, while hoping that regulatory criteria remain predictable, coherent, and adherent to the principle of legitimate trust,” he continued.
Specifically, “this has never happened in the latest appointments and dismissals at RTP, that is, seeking an opinion from the Editorial Board first without having asked the ERC,” he noted, mentioning that “obviously” the Board of Directors was advised by the legal department.
On July 7, the ERC requested RTP’s administration to fulfill the legal obligation to seek the opinion of the Editorial Board on the dismissal and appointment of information directors for the television program services.
