Her new law The European Union for its preservation freedom of the press will live or die by the union’s willingness to rein in its most authoritarian members, Politico writes in an analysis of the barriers to information that have emerged despite the legislation.
Lawmakers from the European Parliament voted in favor of the European Media Freedom Act on Wednesday, a year and a half after the proposal to limit state influence on news agencies was published.
The regulation will ban EU governments from interfering with editorial decisions and prosecuting journalists to reveal their sources.
It will also force governments to stop manipulating public broadcasters, with clearer rules for selecting and firing editorial teams and with sustainable and predictable funding, freeing them from the whims of governments and ensuring that public money for state advertising is distributed fair.
The law “will be an important warning sign for member states,” Commission Vice President Vera Jourova previously said in an interview with Politico.
However, it will take time – and political courage – to restore the rules for years of undermining press freedoms.
The usual suspects
The regulation was intended to counter efforts to undermine media freedom by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, said one of the law’s rapporteurs in the European Parliament, centrist Slovenian Irena Joveva.
How easily such politicians are brought into order “depends on how deeply they have already captured the state and whether that affects their future control of power,” he added, predicting that Hungary, where Orban’s Fidesz party controls 80 percent of the media of the country, is the biggest challenge.
There is a sense of urgency, Yobeva warned: “The longer you have authoritarian governments undermining media freedom, the harder it is to undo the damage.”
What will apply?
Most of the new EU law will come into force 15 months after it is published in the Official Journal, i.e. until the end of 2025.
“The open question is the effectiveness of enforcement, more specifically whether the Commission will collect [την] necessary political will to really start infringement procedures against member states,” said Joveva.
The effectiveness of the rules will initially depend on the good faith of national governments, before the EU executive intervenes.
“It is not enough to put a bill on the table, vote on it and then sit back,” the head of Reporters Without Borders’ office in Brussels, calling on the next Commission to keep media freedom and its strict enforcement as a top priority. with a dedicated vice president to lead the efforts.
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