Media freedom in the European Union

STRASBOURG - The European Parliament has approved proposals for an EU media freedom law aimed at protecting reporters from political interference, allowing them to keep sources secret and ensuring media pluralism across the bloc. At the same time, obstacles to media freedom are becoming increasingly apparent across the continent.

Peloni: Freedom of speech and pluralism are fundamental elements of democracy

Ljubljana – The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), an initiative funded by the European Commission that monitors violations of press and media freedom, will be on a virtual mission to Slovenia over the next two weeks to examine alleged deterioration in media freedom in the country. The findings are to be released in July.

Every year, on 3 May, people around the world celebrate World Press Freedom Day. It is the day to discuss and celebrate press freedom, defend the media against attacks and recognise the efforts of journalists around the world who bring us information.

Ljubljana – A group of 19 NGOs and associations advocating media and human rights urged the EU on Tuesday to “take decisive action to protect independent journalism” in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The call comes a day before a debate on threats to media freedom in the three countries to be held at the European Parliament.

European Commission published its report on the enlargement process where it assesses where the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey stand in preparing to meet EU membership requirements, and sets out what needs to be done to address the remaining challenges.

Greece press freedom has risen slightly to 91st place on the World Press Freedom Index 2015 from 99th place last year (when it plummeted 14 places). The index ranks the performance of 180 countries in a number of sectors such as media pluralism and independence, press freedom and safety as well as the legislative infrastructure that governs the media.