The Council of the EU and the European Parliament reach an agreement on legislation to protect freedom of journalism

The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament (EP) reached an agreement this Friday on legislation to ensure freedom, pluralism and editorial independence of media organizations to protect journalists from political interference.

In a statement, the EU Council announced a “preliminary agreement” with the European Parliament on the legislation, which would establish “a common framework for media services in the EU internal market and introduce measures to protect journalists and media services from political interference” and make it easier to act within the boundaries of the 27th.

“The new rules will guarantee citizens’ access to free and multiple information and define the responsibility of member states to provide appropriate conditions and frameworks for its protection,” the two institutions added in a statement released.

As the country holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of this month, Spain’s culture minister said “democracy cannot exist without media freedom, independence and pluralism.”

The agreement reached this Friday “will underscore the EU’s position as a global leader in protecting journalists.”

In early September, the European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee defended an explicit ban on all forms of pressure on the media in the European Union (EU), asking countries to support them with fiscal predictability.

In an approved position on the European Media Freedom Act by 24 votes in favor, three against and four abstentions, MEPs of this parliamentary committee defended “new rules that oblige member states to ensure pluralism and protect media independence.” in relation to governmental, political, economic or private interests.”

The approved text “prohibits all forms of interference and pressure on the media, including forcing journalists to reveal their sources, access encrypted content on their devices and use software to monitor it,” the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Assembly said in a statement.

Regarding economic viability, MEPs argue that member states “should fund public service media through multi-year budgets to avoid political interference and ensure budgetary predictability”, also suggesting that public advertising allocated to a single provider, platform or search engine should be “limited 15% of the total advertising budget allocated by that authority in a given EU country.”

In addition, this European Assembly parliamentary committee amended the bill to ensure its applicability to all media content, thereby introducing transparency requirements “for everyone, and not just for news and current affairs, as proposed by the European Commission,” according to the statement. .

The idea is that the media will publicly disclose who owns them and who directly or indirectly benefits from them, as well as government advertising and financial support from the state, including public funds from third countries.

The adopted text must be approved by the European Parliament, with a vote scheduled in plenary session in early October, so that MEPs can then begin negotiations with member states (in the Council) on the final form of the law.

In October 2022, the European Commission (which has the legislative power in the EU) proposed the European Media Freedom Act, containing a new set of rules and mechanisms aimed at promoting media pluralism and independence throughout the EU.

The proposal also included the creation of a new independent European Media Services Committee to replace the European Regulators Group created by the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, as well as strengthening cooperation mechanisms between authorities and national regulators of member states.