Lithuanian parliament committee resumes debate on public broadcaster governance reforms

The Lithuanian parliament’s Culture Committee will resume discussions on proposed amendments to the law governing the national broadcaster LRT on Wednesday, following a pause to await further feedback from the Venice Commission, BNS reports.

Last week, lawmakers decided not to finalise deliberations on changes to the governance structure of Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) and instead requested a revised draft opinion from the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law. The committee had previously deferred decisions on implementation timelines after the commission raised concerns about the transition period for the reforms.

The Venice Commission’s preliminary assessment—based on an earlier version of the bill—recommended that any governance changes apply only to LRT leaders appointed after the amendments take effect. Following revisions, the committee retained a parliamentary working group’s proposal that dismissing the LRT director before their term expires would still require a two-thirds majority vote from the broadcaster’s council, matching the current rule. The commission approved this approach but suggested clarifying the grounds for dismissal and allowing the council to choose between open or secret ballots; currently, only open votes are permitted.

LRT’s director-general, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, has previously stated that the proposed changes appear targeted at her personal removal.

Under the current draft, most governance reforms would take effect in later years, but the new dismissal procedure for the director-general would apply immediately upon the law’s adoption. The Venice Commission criticised the amendment process as falling short of “good legislative standards,” urging a thorough impact assessment, broader consultations with LRT and stakeholders, and clearer definitions of the roles of the broadcaster’s council, board, and bureau to ensure compliance with European separation-of-oversight principles.

The commission also advised explicit safeguards against political interference in LRT’s editorial independence, aligning with EU standards. Committee chairman Kęstutis Vilkauskas told BNS that many of the commission’s remarks had already been addressed during earlier debates. After responding to the remaining points, the committee plans to finalise its conclusions and advance the bill to the full Seimas for a vote.

Discussions on the LRT law amendments began on April 13, with the committee holding two to three sessions weekly. The proposal has drawn nearly 150 submissions from MPs, 15 organisations, citizens, and state institutions, along with over 40 legal observations from the Seimas Legal Department.

Key decisions so far include refining LRT’s mission statement, establishing a new governing board, expanding the broadcaster’s council from 12 to 15 members, and rejecting a plan to grant the Tripartite Council (a social dialogue body) a seat in favour of the National NGO Coalition. The committee also agreed to reduce council members’ terms from six to four years, set stricter competence and reputation criteria for candidates, and mandate transparent selection processes. A new council bureau was approved, while a proposed restriction on participation by other media representatives in LRT content creation was unanimously dismissed, preserving the existing legal framework.