The Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union pushes for agreement on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA)

The Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, during his speech after the meeting

The Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union has reached a provisional agreement on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The third of the negotiating trilogues, chaired this morning in Brussels by the Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, thus gives impetus to this pioneering initiative with which the European Union seeks to strengthen media freedom and pluralism, as well as counteracting disinformation, in the framework of the European Democracy Action Plan, aimed at empowering citizens and building more resilient democracies throughout the European Union.

Speaking after the meeting, the Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, said that "this is an important agreement that will protect the media and freedom of the press in Europe". On behalf of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, he thanked "the Parliament for the important agreement we have reached, which allows us to take a very important step forwards in defending and strengthening the rule of law, in defending the freedom of the press, at a key time for the continent, an major step forwards in protecting our democracies".

Urtasun stressed that the regulation will "guarantee the protection of journalists and their sources throughout the EU", which is why he called on "all the countries of the European Union to support this agreement". The minister also expressed his satisfaction with the agreement reached so that "there will be a reference to the responsibilities of the member states".

Access to free and pluralistic information

The text enshrines the right of citizens to have access to free and pluralistic information and member states must respect this right and ensure the appropriate conditions and framework to protect it. It also considers the protection of journalists and their sources and media providers from political interference. It also proposes monitoring media concentration and guaranteeing media pluralism - both traditional and digital - full autonomy and editorial independence from political, economic and private interests.

On media transparency, it seeks to protect press freedom by combating increasing interference in editorial decisions made by European media service providers. In addition, it addresses transparency in the allocation of public resources for institutional advertising. The regulation establishes the obligation to apply transparent and objective criteria to the allocation of institutional advertising to the media. Public authorities must also report each year on the media to which they have placed advertising, and the amounts allocated to each.

It also aims to guarantee the independence of the public media. To this end, it proposes rules to regulate national, regional and local public media in order to safeguard their editorial independence. Transparent and sustainable funding will be ensured, and directorates should be appointed through open and objective procedures.

Regulation procedure

On 16 September 2022, the European Commission tabled an ambitious and innovative Proposal for a Regulation, known as the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), with the aim of guaranteeing the freedom and pluralism of public and private media. This is a pioneering initiative, whereby the EU aims to legislate in the areas of media freedom and pluralism and editorial independence. It is therefore one of the pillars of the measures to strengthen the rule of law throughout the EU promoted by the European Commission. In this way, the EMFA aims to be a general framework for the European Union, which seeks to establish common standards for media freedom.

The provisional agreement reached this morning in the trilogue needs to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament once the text has been finalised at a technical level. It will then be formally adopted by both institutions in spring 2024. Negotiations between the two co-legislators began on 19 October and concluded at the political level with today's agreement.

Non official translation