In 2012 and 2013, the Council of Europe has taken the lead in establishing a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities leading to the comprehensive expertise of the media laws by Council of Europe appointed experts, to the negotiation of the co-operation agreement and the organisation of co-operation activities under that agreement.

From 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013, the Council of Europe implemented three activities with Hungary to improve the alignment of the Hungarian media laws and their implementation with Council of Europe standards in the field of freedom of expression and to reach a better balance between media regulation and self-regulation in Hungary in line with CoE standards. This three months co-operation agreement was funded by a contribution of the EEA and Norway Grants.

Two Roundtables on “Public service media” and on “‘Smart’ media regulation principles” as well as the final Conference on “Current and new challenges in European media regulation” were scoped and organised jointly by the Council of Europe and the Hungarian Media Council in December 2013.

This project benefitted from a detailed expert analysis on two key Media Acts - Act CIV of 9 November 2010 on the freedom of the press and the fundamental rules on media content and Act CLXXXV of 30 December 2010 on media services and on the mass media. The analysis also examined proposed amendments to the two laws submitted to Parliament in May 2012, which seeked to address the findings of the Hungarian Constitutional Court of 19 December 2011.