More and more stakeholders speak out against the Media Freedom Act

Posté par Isabelle Szczepanski le 15 septembre 2023

The Media Freedom Act is due to be discussed in trialogue in October, but is attracting increasing criticism in France, Brussels and beyond. Players in the media and audiovisual sector, as well as elected representatives and non-governmental organizations are concerned about the haste with which the European institutions are arrogating new powers over the media, and risk undermining national systems that work well and are adapted to each local reality.

Geoffroy Didier, Member of the European Parliament, is concerned: « in the name of building an internal media market whose segmentation it disapproves of, the Commission has proposed a regulation that would entail changes to national laws, which are sometimes long-standing, highly rated, effective, adapted to local and cultural specificities, and which, in most European countries, have proven their effectiveness in regulating the sectors concerned ». And yet, he adds, the EU must continue to support « the segmentation of the European media sector », as it « rests on long-standing and relevant linguistic and cultural foundations ». Considering that the Media Freedom Act’s legal basis are the EU Treaty’s provisions relating to the internal market, there are indeed grounds for concern…

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