picture alliance / abaca | Europa Press/ABACA
Public Letter on the role of the European Board for Media Services

ECPMF

15 September 2023

No Comments

14 September 2023

 

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

 

The negotiations on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) are nearing their end in the European Parliament. While the Council and the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) have made some improvements to the text, many challenges remain. The vote in the plenary of the European Parliament will be crucial to the protection and promotion of media freedom and pluralism in the European Union.

 

If media is to remain free and independent, it needs to be on a sound financial footing. State revenue is one of the resources that must be distributed fairly and transparently. Article 24 of the EMFA is a welcome step in that it requires non-discriminatory and open procedures and criteria to be employed when attributing state advertising to media. However, the Article does not provide sufficient tools to prevent authorities from allocating public resources in an unjust and opaque manner. And while the CULT Committee introduced impactful changes to the text, it does not do enough to close several loopholes that exist.

 

In order for the EMFA to adequately address this issue, we call for:

  1. No reintroduction of the “1 million inhabitants” threshold for publishing information regarding state advertising.
  2. An EU-wide online database of state advertising that is easily accessible for the general public and which journalists and civil society can use to connect seemingly unrelated occurrences of public revenue allocation.
  3. Full inclusion of emergency messages, as introduced by Article 2 (15 a) of the Report of the CULT Committee, in the concept of state advertising, to prevent authorities from using catastrophes or states of emergency as justification for funding politically affiliated or friendly media.
  4. Regular and mandatory reporting obligations for authorities which are fully transparent and show the full allocation of state advertising, and which include information on media ownership. The reporting must be available to relevant independent and accountable regulators and resulting reports to all stakeholders.
  5. Monitoring of state advertising and state aid allocation to media, ensuring that enough data is collected by the Commission on the true state of these resources in a centralised manner.

 

In all the above-mentioned points, we support the Opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). We believe that if the Parliament incorporates the provisions the LIBE Committee proposed into its final text, the European Media Freedom Act will serve as an example of well-proportioned safeguards against undue state influence on the media sector. We trust that we can count on the European Parliament to strengthen the EMFA’s state advertising provisions and by doing so, ensure that media freedom can flourish in the European Union.

 

Sincerely,

1. Access Info Europe
2. ARTICLE 19
3. Association of European Journalists (AEJ Belgium)
4. Citizens Network Watchdog Poland
5. Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties)
6. Committee to Protect Journalists
7. European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
8. European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
9. European Partnership for Democracy (EPD)
10. Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)
11. International Press Institute (IPI)
12. Ossigeno.info
13. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
14. Society of Journalists, Warsaw
15. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

Read news by categories:

Related news

Statement

Czechia: Media freedom groups urge Czechia’s government to uphold public media’s independence

As Czechia’s new government prepares to reshape the funding and governance of its public broadcasters, press freedom groups caution that replacing the licence fee with state budget funding would expose ČT and ČRo to political pressure and weaken the editorial independence guaranteed under EU law.

READ MORE
Statement

Position Paper: Transnational Repression against Journalists in Exile

Transnational repression (TNR), the cross-border targeting, intimidation, and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders, is increasingly undermining press freedom and human rights in Europe and beyond. Journalists in exile often remain subjects of sustained threats, surveillance, cyber-attacks, psychological pressure, and harassment long after reaching presumed safety. These tactics are used by authoritarian states to silence dissent, extend their reach beyond borders, and weaken the role of independent media globally.

READ MORE
Statement

EU’s dangerous ‘Return Hubs’ policy: A threat to journalists in exile

The EU’s new “Return Hubs” migration policy endangers journalists and human rights defenders in exile by designating unsafe countries as “safe,” undermining press freedom and EU human rights commitments.

READ MORE
Statement

Open letter to Croatian Prime Minister Plenković: MFRR raises alarm over unlawful political pressure against weekly Novosti

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium, expresses grave concern regarding recent statements by the Homeland Movement that targeted the weekly newspaper Novosti, the only print media for the Serb minority in Croatia.

READ MORE
Statement

Lithuania: Media freedom groups raise alarm as political pressure campaign on LRT widens

READ MORE
Statement

Ukraine: Peace plan must ensure accountability for crimes against journalists

As negotiations continue over a peace plan to end the Russian war on Ukraine, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and partner organisations strongly oppose any proposals on granting amnesty for potential war crimes committed in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion, especially for those against journalists.

READ MORE