Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

A European Media Freedom Act worthy of its name?

Renate Schroeder 31st July 2023

Amid a sea of online misinformation, in a ‘polycrisis’ world reliable public-interest journalism has never been more essential.

European Media Freedom Act,FMFA,public-interest journalism
Journalists need to know they can use their phones to ‘speak truth to power’—not that power can use them to listen in (wellphoto/shutterstock.com)

Today, the sustainability of free media is threatened in many European Union countries. Pluralism is lacking, with the rise of the platforms to information monopolies accelerating the shrinkage of the space for independent and public-interest journalism. Media are increasingly captured and controlled by politicians—or subjected to ‘fake news’ smears in the style of the former United States president, Donald Trump. Journalists’ protection of sources is meanwhile under attack via increased state surveillance.

These worrying trends have been documented in the annual rule of law reports by the European Commission and, more specifically, the Media Pluralism Monitor published since 2013-14, giving an excellent analysis of the risks to core media values. The Florence Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom, responsible for the monitor, rightly concluded that ‘times were ripe to give the European Union new tools to protect and foster journalism as a public good in a digital environment’.

Growing misinformation

The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), proposed by the European Commission last September, attempts to regulate the information ecosystem. This is dominated by the—mostly American—very large online platforms and poisoned by growing misinformation and conspiracy campaigns, threatening Europe’s democracies and European integration more broadly.

The recently adopted Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act aim to create a safer digital space, where the fundamental rights of users are protected, and to establish a level playing-field for businesses. The EMFA proposes a new set of rules to promote media pluralism, transparency and independence across the EU. It is based on the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, but extends the scope to the publishing and online-media service providers.

The proposed regulation includes, among other things, safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and surveillance of journalists. It puts a premium on the independence and stable funding of public-service media, as well as on the transparency of media ownership and the allocation of state advertising.

It also sets out measures to protect the independence of journalists and disclose conflicts of interest. Finally, the act would create a new independent European Board for Media Services, composed of national media authorities and based on the work of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA).

Many publishers’ groups—in particular from Germany and France—have engaged in aggressive lobbying against the EMFA. Labelling it a ‘media un-freedom act’, they claim that the tradition of self-regulation is threatened and that the commission has no standing on media-content issues. Attempts by German members of the European Parliament—the rapporteur of the leading Committee on Culture and Education, Sabine Verheyen, and her German shadow, Petra Kammereverth—to weaken the draft regulation by transforming it into a directive however failed.

Intrusive surveillance

But the Council of the EU under the Swedish presidency in the first half of this year did see a backlash on media freedom and journalists’ protection of sources, permitting the deployment of ‘intrusive surveillance software’ against media service providers on broad ‘national security’ grounds. Eighty media-freedom and human-rights organisations, including publishers, broadcasters and trade unions, sent an open letter to the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, which has the lead on this EMFA article, to come up with a much stronger position. Journalists in Europe’s capitals woke up to (and wrote about) the potential harm of allowing states to spy on journalists for ‘national security’ reasons.

Just think: governments are proposing to legalise spying on European journalists at the very time when the Media Pluralism Monitor shows their extreme vulnerability in terms of digital security. Lobbying by many nongovernmental organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists, has led to a strengthened position within the European Parliament without any national-security exemption. But an absolute ban on the deployment against journalists of spyware and similar intrusive technologies is not among the amendments adopted by the civil-liberties committee.

The EFJ and the wider ‘EMFA Coalition’ will enhance their lobbying before the final vote in the plenary, to insist on an absolute ban on the use of spyware against journalists. Such technologies obtain unchecked and unlimited access to the individual’s communications, photos, contacts and online-behaviour data, jeopardising the confidentiality of their sources and citizens’ access to quality journalism.

Trilogue negotiations

The parliament’s culture committee has improved on the draft text from the commission by adding additional binding rules on media-ownership transparency, the independence of public-service media and their financial stability. It has also given additional tasks to the European board.

The plan now is that the culture committee will adopt the compromise text on September 7th, with a plenary vote on the whole text in early October. This would allow the ‘trilogue’ negotiations among the commission, parliament and council to take place under the current Spanish residency, with completion under the Belgian presidency before the parliamentary elections next year.

The EFJ and its partners will continue to fight for a more ambitious act worthy of its name. But it is an uphill battle: too many actors are not interested in binding rules on sensitive issues such as editorial independence, transparency and the protection of journalists.

Media moguls

So let us put this in context. Regulation to sustain media freedom and pluralism has been a slowly but steadily evolving project in the EU. It started with the Television without Frontiers Directive in 1989, followed by a green paper on media concentration in 1992.

Though media concentration was already seen then as a high risk, no legislation was however adopted. Aggressive lobbying by the media moguls of the time—Rupert Murdoch, Leo Kirch and Silvio Berlusoni—convinced the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy to vote against it.

Today we are living in times of unprecedented pressures on public-interest journalism. This act will not solve all the many challenges ahead but, together with other EU initiatives, it would be a small but important step in the right direction.

Renate Schroeder
Renate Schroeder

Renate Schroeder is director of the European Federation of Journalists, representing around 300,000 journalists in 73 organisations across 45 countries. She has worked for 30 years for the International Federation of Journalists and (since 2003 exclusively) for the EFJ.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983467f bb39 37d5862ca0d5 0 Ending Britain’s “Brief Encounter” with BrexitStefan Stern
u421983485 2 The Future of American Soft PowerJoseph S. Nye
u4219834676d582029 038f 486a 8c2b fe32db91c9b0 2 Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite HimNouriel Roubini
u42198346fb0de2b847 0 How the Billionaire Boom Is Fueling Inequality—and Threatening DemocracyFernanda Balata and Sebastian Mang
u421983441e313714135 0 Why Europe Needs Its Own AI InfrastructureDiane Coyle

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641