Of 7 the EUROVISION DEBATE TERMS of USE of SIGNAL the Present Document Sets out the Terms According to Which the Producti
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Terms of 29.04.2014 THE EUROVISION DEBATE TERMS OF USE OF SIGNAL The present Document sets out the terms according to which the production/signal of the programme mentioned hereafter is to be made available for transmission by broadcasters (available for EBU Members and non-EBU Members) as well as by European and national political parties wishing to retransmit the Debate. Programme Information Title: Eurovision Debate Venue: Plenary Chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels Date: 15 May 2014 Time: 21:00 CET Duration: 90 min. Producer: European Broadcasting Union under the guidance of the Editorial Board (see below) Conditions of broadcast Transmission: Live, deferred and repeat use Period: unlimited in time Exclusivity: non (non-exclusive right for the broadcaster’s territory) Media: any operated media services (Linear and Non-Linear) on any fully-owned platforms. Editing: allowed but to be undertaken under the sole responsibility of the broadcasters. Restrictions/disclaimer: The Eurovision Debate is to be produced by the EBU under the guidance and the supervision of senior editors from European Public Service Media (the “Editorial Board”), the composition thereof being given under Annexe 1 hereto along the lines described in the document attached hereto as Annexe 2 (the “Rules”). The Rules provide information as to the selection criteria of the candidates invited to participate in the Eurovision Debate and the format of the Debate Broadcasters wishing to transmit the Eurovision Debate are invited to submit the Rules to their respective in-house legal department in order to verify that national requirements regarding the coverage of EU elections (if any) in their country are met. The EBU makes no express representations in that respect and it shall be the responsibility of each broadcaster to ensure that its broadcast of the Eurovision Debate is in compliance with its national law. Page 1 of 7 Terms of 29.04.2014 Annexe 1 Members of the Editorial Board Asun Gomez Bueno, TVE and EBU News Committee Klaus Weber, ZDF Susanne Biedenkopf-Kuerten, ZDF Simon Wilson, BBC Peter Knowles, BBC Friedrich Jungmayr, ORF Raimund Loew, ORF Monica Maggioni, Rai Jukka Niva, YLE Mike Mullane, Eurovision (Secretary) Page 2 of 7 Terms of 29.04.2014 Annexe 2 THE EUROVISION DEBATE Between candidates for the next European Commission’s Presidency. Programme Format Rules 1. Introduction a. The Editorial Principles derived from the Declaration on the Core Values of Public Service Media are the inspiration for this document. Above all, the present Rules aim to be fair and respectful not only to the Candidates, but also to the Political Groups they represent. b. These Rules have been elaborated and approved by an independent Editorial Board of senior editors from European Public Service Media. c. Under the supervision and guidance of the Editorial Board, EUROVISION will produce and distribute the Debate for broadcast on broadcasters’ channels and fully owned websites. d. The European Parliament is not involved in any editorial matters, but will provide the technical facilities and services needed to produce the Eurovision Debate, including but not necessarily limited to technicians, cameramen and translators. It will also distribute the signal to interested broadcasters. 2. Selection of candidates In order to be invited to participate in the Eurovision Debate, Candidates to the European Commission presidency must fulfill the following cumulative criteria: a. The Candidate must be nominated by one of the 13 political parties represented in the European Parliament and; b. The political party making the nomination must be represented in one of the seven officially recognized Political Groups in the outgoing European Parliament1 and; c. Only one presidential Candidate per Political Group will be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Debate and; d. Only presidential candidates nominated before 15th March 2014 are eligible. 1 In order to be officially recognized, Political Groups must have 25 Members of Parliament who represent at least one-quarter of the EU Member States. Members of Parliament may not belong to more than one political group. The European Parliament currently recognizes seven Groups See http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/007f2537e0/Political-groups.html i. Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats); ii. Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; iii. Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; iv. Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance; v. European Conservatives and Reformists Group; vi. Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left; vii. Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group. Page 3 of 7 Terms of 29.04.2014 3. Structure of programme a. Depending on the number of Candidates finally participating in the Eurovision Debate, this document is subject to modifications, in particular, the timings mentioned below. b. The programme will start with all Participating Candidates on set and standing at their podiums. c. The Participating Candidates will draw lots to determine their position on the set. d. The moderator will have a podium/desk and will move within a small area to allow eye-line with the candidates. e. The moderator will introduce the Participating Candidates in English. f. The language of the Debate is English. g. The Participating Candidates will draw lots to determine the order in which they are presented, as well as the order in which they speak. h. The programme will be divided into three 30-minute segments, with questions in each segment focusing on a different theme, as outlined below. i. In case of major international breaking news, the moderator may ask the Participating Candidates for their reaction to the development before moving on to the next question. j. Each Participating Candidate will make a one-minute opening statement at the start of the programme. This should be in English and address a European audience. k. After the opening statements, the moderator will ask the first question on the themes. There will be closing statements of one minute from all candidates at the end of the 90 minutes. l. Each Participating Candidate will have no more than one minute to answer each question. m. Each Participating Candidate will then have no more than one minute to comment on the answers and statements of the other Participating Candidates. Participating Candidates will not be able to accumulate time by giving shorter comment(s) or by refraining from commenting in order to benefit from the unused time later in the Debate. n. The programme editor will use his best endeavours to keep to the one-minute time allowance but it may need to be extended in the interest of equality of treatment. o. The themed programme segments will include questions and comments gathered via social media, as well as charts or other info-graphics illustrating the results of European Parliament (and/or Eurobarometer) polls. p. There will be a clock indicating the time remaining for statements, answers to questions and responses. This will be visible to the Participating Candidates and moderator, the studio audience and on-screen. Page 4 of 7 Terms of 29.04.2014 q. At the end of the programme the candidates will shake hands. 4. Role of the moderator a. The moderator explain(s) at the beginning of the programme the purposes of the Eurovision Debate, underline(s) its unique character as being the first ever live televised debate between candidates to the next president of the European Commission and briefly remind(s) the role played by the European Commission President, including the relation between the European Parliament vote and the appointment of a new President of the European Commission. b. The moderator asks the questions and speak(s) to the candidates in English. If needed, the moderator take(s) into consideration any time delay needed for translation/interpretation purposes. c. The moderator keeps the candidates to the agreed time limits as mentioned above. d. The moderator ensures free-flowing debate being fair to all candidates over the course of the programme. e. The moderator seeks clarification where necessary. f. The moderator will under no circumstances criticize or evaluate on the Participating Candidates’ answers and statements except if her/his intervention is necessary to correct or hold any defamatory or racist statements or any other inappropriate behaviour. In any case, the EBU shall not bear the responsibility for the views expressed by the Participating Candidates and the audience during the Eurovision Debate or in any recording related thereto. g By accepting to participate in the Eurovision Debate, the Participating Candidates accept the authority of the moderator to abide by the Rules. 5. Themes a. The Editorial Board has the final say on the themes chosen, but will inform the Participating Candidates in advance of the themes chosen. b. Likely themes for the three programme segments are: (i) Economic affairs: e.g. future of the single currency; debt; recession; recovery; banking and finance; business; jobs; education and research. (ii) Social, environmental and political issues: e.g. immigration; trust in politics; political reform; pollution; climate change. (iii) International affairs: e.g. role of the European Union in the world; international relations; Ukraine; Russia; Syria; Iran; Middle East; international terrorism; China; United States. c. In order to ensure that the themes are topical and relevant, they will be finalized as close as possible to the day of the debate. Page 5 of 7 Terms of 29.04.2014 6. Audience a. The audience should broadly represent the different geographical regions of the European Union. In addition, seats will be reserved for representatives of the press. b. The audience will be made up of roughly 400-600 people (TBC), subject to security considerations and venue capacity. c. The audience will not be involved directly in the Eurovision Debate and will not be allowed to ask questions.