The 17th Plenary Assembly of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities (MNRA) was held in Split, on 1 and 2 October 2015, at the invitation of Croatian Agency for Electronic Media assuming the Vice Presidency of the network, under the chairmanship of Mr Hamoud Ould M’Hamed, President of Mauritanian Press and Broadcasting High Authority (HAPA) and President of MNRA.

Twenty authorities from the North and South of the Mediterranean basin were represented at the meeting, which was devoted to two topics of primary importance to the regulatory institutions, namely the future of MNRA and the media literacy. Migration and Human Rights representation in the media and the workshop dedicated to pluralism and elections have recorded rich and fruitful exchanges and debates between the authorities represented.

A session concerned the implementation of the Declaration of MNRA on the fight against gender stereotypes in the audiovisual media, in which the MNRA working group to promote the gender equality in the media, chaired by the HACA of Morocco and the CAA of Andalusia, has presented the first results of the analyses.

The 17th Plenary Assembly also dealt with the possible future actions, in cooperation with other international organizations, including the co-financing models by EU or other funds. The presentation of Council of Europe activities in the Mediterranean basin and the presentation of MedMedia project, guided by the Blanquerna School of Communications and International Relation, raised an issue of potential cooperation models. The importance of the platform for discussion following the session of the future MNRA – goals and operation, has been presented by Portuguese authority, accompanied by Maltese presentation of the survey on the questionnaire of the MNRA future.

Two external experts have contributed to the work of the 17th Plenary Assembly on the theme of the cooperation in the Mediterranean area; Ms Lejla Dervisagić, Head of Cooperation Unit, Media and Internet Division, Council of Europe and Ms Krisztina Rozgonyi, consultant MedMedia project/Blanquerna School of Communications and International Relations.

During the session devoted to the Life of the Network, the Presidency of MNRA was entrusted to Ms Mirjana Rakić, the President of the AEM of Croatia.

The Vice-presidency was attributed to the Spain’s National Authority for Markets and Competition (CNMC).