Guidelines on the use of Minority Languages in the Broadcast Media ownership: broadcasting and the press). The OSCE Geneva Document, in Chapter VII, calls for specific support by the State to the electronic mass media by providing information so that the latter takes into account in their programmes, inter alia, the linguistic identity of national minorities. 16) The call for States to consider providing financial support for minority language broadcasting is derived from the requirements of effective equality in access to the broadcast media for persons belonging to national minorities. Article 19 of the Central European Initiative’s Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights stipulates, inter alia, that “States guarantee the right of persons belonging to a national minority to avail themselves of the media in their own language, in conformity with relevant State regulations and with possible financial assistance”. The principle of non-discrimination requires that minority language broadcasters receive an equitable proportion of State support for the media. Article 11(1)(f) of the European Language Charter stipulates that States Parties must either “cover the additional costs of those media which use regional or minority languages, wherever the law provides for financial assistance in general for the media,” or “apply existing measures for financial assistance also to audiovisual production in the regional or minority languages”. Regarding the production and distribution of audiovisual works in minority languages, as noted above Article 11(1)(d) of the European Language Charter obliges States Parties “to encourage and/or facilitate the production and distribution of audio and audiovisual works in the regional or minority languages.” In Recommendation No. R (93) 5 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, entitled Containing Principles Aimed at Promoting the Distribution and Broadcasting of Audiovisual Works Originated in Countries or Regions with a Low Audiovisual Output or a Limited Geographic or Linguistic Coverage on the European Television Markets, the Committee has expressed the view that the freedoms enshrined in Article 10 of the ECHR “can be exercised meaningfully by audiovisual producers in countries and regions with a low audiovisual output or a limited geographic or linguistic coverage by enabling them to have an effective access to the European television markets for the distribution of their works”. Within the European Union, Recital 31 of the Preamble to Directive 97/36/EC stresses the need for the Community to promote independent producers “taking into account the audiovisual capacity of each Member State and the need to protect lesser used languages of the European Union.” In defining the notion of “independent producer”, Member States should “take appropriate account of criteria such as 25