The 13th Plenary Assembly of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities was held in Valletta, on 24 and 25 November 2011, on the invitation of the Broadcasting Authority of Malta holding the vice-presidency of the Network, and, under the presidency of Professor Dr. Davut Dursun, President of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), and President of the Network.

Seventeen regulatory authorities were represented. The European Audiovisual Observatory, the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM) of Montenegro, the Independent Media Commission (IMC) of Kosovo, and the Mission in Kosovo of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) took part in the debates as observers. At the end of the meeting, the AEM and the IMC joined the Network under the status of member-observer.

MNRA counts twenty member authorities representing seventeen states of the Mediterranean area as well as three member-observers.

His Excellency Dr. George Abela, President of the Republic of Malta, inaugurated the meeting. Addressing the participants, he emphasized the importance of the encounter with regard to the challenges of globalization and to the recent events in north Africa. Then, President Dursun, followed by the Vice-President Tabone delivered the opening speeches of the 13th Plenary Assembly.

The first session focused on the quest for regulation in the Mediterranean Basin. The President of the French CSA, Mr Michel Boyon, recalled the commitment of the member authorities in favour of the regulation of audiovisual serving the Mediterranean civilization, which is born from diversity and is grounded on exchanges. In the current context of unsteadiness in the north as in the south of the Mediterranean, the role of the Network is to act in favour of the stability of the institutions, of the democracies, of the economies and of the societies by means of a base of common values and principles, and by helping to reinforce or to strengthen the existing national member authorities. The President of the Andalusian CAA and the President of the Italian AGCOM praised former and ongoing cooperations in the Network.

Upon the initiative of the CSA, the participants adopted a common declaration on Reality Shows, based on the declaration on audiovisual content regulation adopted in Reggio in 2008. It urges the regulatory authorities to watch over the fundamental rights of the human being and the protection of minors in reality show programs.

On the second day, the Turkish Presidency presented the assessment of a study conducted amongst member authorities about the protection of minors and the various levels of signalization applied to different programmes.

Mr Wolfgang Closs, Chief Executive of the European Audiovisual Observatory, had the opportunity to present the project of the Mediterranean Audiovisual Observatory, which was launched on the occasion of the Conference on Euromed Audiovisual III in Tunis on 14 and 15 November 2011, and which might concern Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Palestine and Tunisia.

The end of the discussions focused on the Life of the Network. The Haute Autorité de la communication audiovisuelle of Morocco presented its reflections on the strategic reorientation of the Mediterranean Network and its governance and functioning.

During the closing ceremony, the presidency of the Network was entrusted to Mr. Anthony Tabone, Chairman of the Broadcasting Authority of Malta. The vice-presidency of the Network is assumed by the Portuguese Entidade par a Comunicação Social (ERC) and its new president Mr Carlos Magno.

The next annual meeting of the Network will take place in 2012 in Portugal on the invitation of the ERC.