As the work on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) is picking up steam, so are we ramping up our efforts to achieve a text promoting and protecting media freedom and pluralism. Our Policy Officer Lucie Rohrbacherova was invited to speak at a stakeholders’ meeting in the CULT Committee, the Committee in charge of the file in the European Parliament. On 27 February 2023, we brought forward a statement stressing our support to the EMFA and specifying our concerns over some of its provisions.
We urge the legislators to ensure that the EMFA stays in the form of a Regulation, as a Directive would take too long to implement and would open up possibilities for arbitrary interpretation in Member States.
We also advocate for the protection of rights of journalists, transparency of media ownership and state advertising, the independence of the European Board of Media Services, and the removal of the so-called “media privilege” under Article 17.
Citizens and civil society need a strong European Media Freedom Act. A strong ambitious EMFA will be an inspiration to democratic societies and a golden standard for media freedom and pluralism around the world. The EU must continue to be a champion of democracy.
