The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament (EP) reached an agreement this Friday on legislation to safeguard the freedom, pluralism and editorial independence of the media, to protect journalists from political interference .
In a statement, the Council of the EU announced a “provisional agreement” with the EP on this legislation, which will establish a “common framework for media services in the EU internal market and introduce measures to protect journalists and media services from political interference, also making it easier to operate within the borders of the 27.
“The new rules will guarantee citizens access to free and plural information, and will define the responsibility of Member States to provide adequate conditions and a framework to protect it,” the two institutions added in the statement released.
According to the Spanish Minister of Culture, given that the country has the rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of this month, “democracy cannot exist without freedom, independence and plurality of the media.”
The agreement reached this Friday “will accentuate the EU’s position as a world leader in the protection of journalists.”
At the beginning of September, the Culture and Education Committee of the European Parliament defended the explicit prohibition of any form of pressure on the media in the European Union (EU), calling on countries to support them with budgetary predictability.
In the position approved on the European Law on Freedom of the Media, with 24 votes in favor, three against and four abstentions, the MEPs of this parliamentary committee defended “new rules that oblige Member States to guarantee plurality and protect the independence of the media. in relation to governmental, political, economic or private interests”.
The approved text “prohibits all forms of interference and pressure on the media, including forcing journalists to reveal their sources, accessing encrypted content on their devices and using software to control them,” indicates the Culture and Education Commission of the european assembly in a declaration.
Regarding economic viability, MEPs argue that Member States “should finance public service media through multi-annual budgets to avoid political interference and ensure budgetary predictability”, also proposing that public advertising allocated to a single provider, platform or search engine “is limited to 15% of the total advertising budget allocated by that authority in a given EU country.”
Furthermore, this parliamentary committee of the European Assembly amended the bill to ensure that it applies to all media content, thus providing for transparency requirements “for everyone and not just for news and current affairs, as proposed by the European Commission.” “, according to the statement. .
The idea is for the media to publicly disseminate information about who owns and benefits from them, directly or indirectly, as well as state advertising and financial support from the state, including public funds from third countries.
The adopted text must be confirmed by the European Parliament, whose vote will take place in plenary at the beginning of October so that MEPs can begin negotiations with the Member States (in the Council) on the final form of the law.
In October 2022, the European Commission (which has legislative initiative in the EU) proposed this European Media Freedom Law, with a new set of rules and mechanisms aimed at promoting media pluralism and independence throughout the EU.
The proposal also included the creation of a new and independent European Media Services Committee, which will replace the Group of European Regulators created by the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, as well as reinforced cooperation mechanisms between national authorities and regulatory bodies of the States. members.
Source: TSF
