Council and Parliament strike deal on new rules to safeguard media freedom

The Council has reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on a new law to safeguard media freedom, media pluralism and editorial independence in the EU.

The European media freedom act (EMFA) will establish a common framework for media services in the EU’s internal market and introduce measures aimed at protecting journalists and media providers from political interference, while also making it easier for them to operate across the EU’s internal borders. The new rules will guarantee the right of citizens to access free and plural information and define the responsibility of member states to provide the appropriate conditions and framework to protect it.

Democracy cannot exist without media freedom, independence and plurality. Today’s agreement confirms the EU’s position as a world leader in protecting journalists, guaranteeing the independence of media providers, and ensuring that citizens have access to a wide and diverse range of reliable news sources.

Ernest Urtasun i Domènech, Spanish Minister for Culture

Growing threat to media freedom

The proposed regulation responds to rising concerns in the EU about the politicisation of the media and the lack of transparency of media ownership and of allocation of state advertising funds to media service providers. It seeks to put in place safeguards to combat political interference in editorial decisions for both private and public service media providers, protect journalists and their sources, and guarantee media freedom and pluralism.

A new media services board

The EMFA builds on the provisions of the 2018 audiovisual media services directive (AVMSD), and broadens its scope to include radio and press. In particular, it introduces an independent European board for media services (‘the Board’) to replace the regulators group (ERGA) established under the AVMSD. The board will be composed of national media authorities and will advise and support the Commission to promote the consistent application of key provisions of the new EMFA law and the AVMSD in all member states, including by providing opinions and helping the Commission to produce guidelines.

Elements of the compromise

The compromise text provisionally agreed between the co-legislators maintains the ambition and objectives of the Commission’s proposal while ensuring that the new law is consistent with existing EU legislation, respects national competences in this area, and strikes the right balance between the necessary harmonisation and respect for national differences.

In particular, the provisional agreement:

• clarifies the responsibility of the member states to guarantee the plurality, independence and proper functioning of public media providers operating within their borders
• sets out the obligation for member states to guarantee the effective protection of journalists and media providers in the exercise of their professional activity
• prohibits member states from using coercive measures to obtain information about journalists’ sources or confidential communications except in specified cases
• broadens the scope of the requirements on transparency, both for transparency of ownership which is proposed to apply for all media service providers and for the transparency of state advertising where the possibility of national exemptions for small entities is significantly reduced
• provides clearer rules on the relationship between very large online platform providers (VLOPs) and media service providers that adhere to regulatory or self-regulatory regimes of editorial control and journalistic standards in member states, with the aim to ensure that content provided by media service providers is treated with extra care
• allows media service providers to respond within 24 hours, or earlier in cases of emergency, if a VLOP decides to remove their content on the grounds of incompatibility with its terms and conditions

The deal with the Parliament determines the scope of the Board in its advisory role and strengthens its independence. It also introduces the possibility for the Board to set up a steering group, as well as to consult media representatives on issues beyond the scope of the audiovisual media sector.

Finally, member states will be able to adopt stricter or more detailed rules than those set out in relevant parts of the EMFA.

Next steps

Today's provisional agreement must be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament once the text has been finalised at technical level. It will then be formally adopted by both institutions in the spring of 2024. Negotiations between the two co-legislators were launched on 19 October 2023 and are concluded at political level with today's agreement.

Background

Media freedom and pluralism are enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. However, recent reports from the Commission and the media pluralism monitor have highlighted a number of concerns in the EU regarding issues such as the politicisation of the media, transparency of media ownership and the independence of media regulators.

On 16 September 2022 the Commission published its proposal for a regulation establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market. The EMFA proposal set out new rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. The Council secured a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on 21 June 2023, and it was revised on 22 November 2023.