Control Bodies
Concerning its actions, the CCMA is answerable, as external bodies, to the Parliamentary Control Committee and the Catalan Audiovisual Council (Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya, CAC).
Parliamentary Control Committee
The CCMA's Parliamentary Control Committee was created by law and it holds the parliamentary control over the CCMA and its subsidiary companies. Instituted by virtue of the Act establishing CCMA, this is the committee by which Parliament monitors and controls CCMA and its subsidiary companies, appointment of committee members, and compliance with parliamentary rules. The committee lays down that the Members of Parliament can formulate questions that must be responded orally or in writing by the President of the Council, as the highest authority of the entity. The questions to be asked orally will be drawn at the Committee meetings, that will be held at the Catalan Parliament approximately once a month, according to the provisions laid down in Articles 173 and following of the Parliamentary Regulations. The maximum number of questions to be asked in each session will be decided by the Chair.
The Law also establishes that the bodies of the CCMA, from which Parliament may request information, cannot refuse to provide it whenever it is of interest and relates to the function of control. In the event that providing a reply may mean a prejudice for the interests of the Corporation, the request will be replaced by an attendance at the Secret or Reserved Issues Committee.
Catalan Broadcasting Authority (Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya)
Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC) is an independent public entity with competencies over the content of the audiovisual sector in Catalonia created by law in 2000 with the will of being a social point of reference of prestige and of vigilance over the quality and the rigour of the audiovisual media that broadcast in Catalonia, and consequently of the subsidiary companies of the CCMA responsible for the emission of content over television, radio and the Internet.
As a body that watches over the fulfilment of the regulatory norms of the audiovisual sector, and specifically of the political, social, religious and cultural pluralism, and of that of thought, the CAC can ask for reports and for attendances at the various bodies of the CCMA with the aim of looking into specific issues and to guarantee the fulfilment of the missions of public service assigned to public media. Among its functions, the CAC also watches over the fulfilment of language pluralism, of the norms about Catalan and Aranese, of the legislation on protection of children and teenagers, and of the legislation on advertising.