EU to Unveil New Media Freedom Act Next Year

Photo: Unsplash/Matt Chesin

EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said the purpose of the Act "will be to ensure the integrity and independence" of the EU media market.

"We want to act against all types of unjustified interferences in the activities of our media companies," Thierry said. "We need to make sure that there are media pluralism safeguards, including online, so no one grows too big to care about public debate."

The move comes amid a broad deterioration in the rankings of Central and Southeast European countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, a measure of the level of media freedom worldwide compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The politicisation of the public and independent media in the region is a long-term trend that has picked up over the last couple of years, with the COVID-19 pandemic providing an opportunity for illiberal governments in the region to exert more control over the media.

Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova acknowledged this trend during the European News Media Forum held in Brussels, telling attendees that: "We have seen many attempts by governments to interfere in the media, undermine their independence, and therefore distort the market."

"We need a series of rules based on common principles, such as the editorial independence of the media and the transparency of ownership," Jourova said. "With the Media Freedom Act, we want to address problems and support what is working."

Jourova said the EU executive is at the beginning of its work drafting the Act and called for support for this "new pioneering initiative". She reminded attendees of the work the EU is already doing in this regard, allocating at least 75 million euros from the...