The number of politically appointed seats on the VRT board was reduced from twelve to eight. The Flemish government decided this at its last cabinet meeting before the summer holidays, Information Minister Benjamin Dahl said. Practically speaking, it will go down to CD&V, N-VA, Open Vld and Vlaams Belang who lose a seat.
In addition to the eight directors appointed from the Flemish Parliament groups, there will be four independent directors. This is clear from the initial draft of the decree. These people will be with relevant experience in the general management of the broadcaster or experts from the audiovisual sector and media policy. There will be an open call that anyone can apply for.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, as is the case today, is elected from among the “political” members of the Board. The vice president will be provided by the independents.
The decree introduced several other changes. For example, there will be stronger involvement of the board of directors in the appointment and removal of the managing director. After approval in Parliament, a new council will be formed.
“Breach of the cultural pact”
According to the opposition party Vlaams Pelange, the new formation of the VRT board of directors is “a clear violation of the Cultuurpact Act, which guarantees proportional ideological representation.”
“This way, my party will have as many board seats as Vorwitt, while we have almost twice as many votes,” complains Rep. Vlaams Belang Claes Slotmans. Public broadcasting requires public control, that is, by reflecting the population and the public. If the majority and the VRT itself want to get rid of that; It is better not to stop halfway, but it is better to privatize VRT suddenly. ”
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