Commission deep-dives over media freedom in annual rule of law report

Eight EU countries have been urged to take measures to protect media freedom and pluralism as part of the 2022 Rule of Law report, published on Wednesday (13 July) by the European Commission. 

The report, which is the third released of its kind, features specific recommendations targeted at individual member states and places particular emphasis on safeguarding public service media, for the first time.

Also covered are threats to the physical and online safety of journalists and tackling the use of abusive lawsuits, both of which have been the subject of Commission initiatives in recent months. 

The report’s media focus comes ahead of the publication of the European Media Freedom Act, scheduled for release in September, which is set to establish a legal framework for safeguarding media independence and pluralism. 

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A number of member states also received suggestions on how the media could be strengthened in the report’s country-specific recommendations.

Among the proposed measures were improved access to information, greater transparency of media ownership and the strengthening of media regulators. All these aspects are expected to be covered in the upcoming media law.

While last year’s report focused heavily on the impact of COVID-19 on the media, this year’s includes a new section dealing specifically with public service media, safeguarding the governance and editorial independence which is stressed as being key to preventing political interference in the sector. 

“For the first time, the report looks into public service media”, said Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová. “More safeguards are needed to ensure that the independence of public service media is protected, that public funding is adequate and not used to put political pressure on those media.”

Efforts to reform laws dealing with the independence and financing of public service media are underway in a number of countries, including Bulgaria, Romania and Luxembourg. 

Concerns were, however, outlined in eight countries about insufficient guarantees against the politicisation of appointments and dismissals to executive and management positions in these organisations, and weaknesses in the funding and independence of media regulators were noted in four others. 

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Within the recommendations, issued for the first time this year, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Hungary were urged to address the position of their public service outlets by strengthening their editorial or governance independence.

The report also calls for greater transparency and equity when it comes to the allocation of state advertising, as well as greater safeguards to prevent political influence from being exerted over media through broadcast licensing systems.

Referenced in particular was the “LexTVN” case in Poland, where proposed changes to the country’s broadcast licensing system would have seen the US-owned critical news channel TVN24 taken off the air. Following international push-back, the law was eventually vetoed by President Andrzej Duda in December.

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The Commission’s aim of increasing transparency of media ownership and influence is set to be codified in the upcoming European Media Freedom Act due for publication in September. 

The Media Freedom Act will follow a number of initiatives related to the press issued by the Commission in recent months. Amid mounting concern over the threats faced by journalists both on and offline, the EU executive in September 2021 released its recommendation on the safety of journalists. 

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European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová presented on Thursday (16 September) a Recommendation on the Safety of Journalists, urging EU countries to address security concerns in an environment increasingly hostile towards the media.

This year’s rule of law report notes a significant increase in the number of alerts recorded in 2021 by different platforms tracking threats against and attacks on media workers. 

In a number of countries including France, Germany and Greece, measures to improve the situation for journalists have been recorded in the past year, but further and more significant steps are required, the report notes, in Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia. 

Journalists are also the subject of an increasing deployment of abusive litigation in the EU, often on the grounds of defamation. The Commission’s Anti-SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) directive was presented earlier this year in an effort to stem the tide of these cases, but the report notes that their use remains high in a number of countries. 

While Slovakia and Greece were issued with direct recommendations on increasing the physical safety of journalists, a number of others including Italy, Ireland and Lithuania received more general demands to improve the working environments of journalists including improved access to information and boosting protections against defamation claims. 

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[Edited by Luca Bertuzzi and Benjamin Fox]

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