The European Commission today launched an open public consultation on the forthcoming European law on freedom of the media. This law is a landmark initiative announced by President von der Leyen in her 2021 State of the Union address and aims to preserve media pluralism and independence in the EU internal market.
This follows a call for papers published on December 21, 2021 outlining the main objectives of the initiative, possible options and impacts.
Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency, Věra Jourová, said: “The media is a pillar of democracy. But today, this pillar is cracking, with attempts by governments and private groups to put pressure on the media. This is why the Commission will propose common rules and guarantees to protect the independence and pluralism of the media. Journalists must be able to do their job, inform citizens and hold power to account without fear or favour. We are now carrying out broad consultations to come
with the best offer.
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton added: “We must ensure that Europe’s media remain independent, innovative and sustainable, and operate without any undue interference in their activities, whether private or public. Today we are launching our consultation on the next Freedom of the Media Act: we want to hear your views and explore your solutions for a resilient media market that provides diverse and reliable information to citizens. »
The consultation aims to gather views on the most important issues affecting the functioning of the internal media market, including different types of media interference, as well as economic trends. It covers three main areas relating to media markets, the first dealing with transparency and independence (e.g. review of media market transactions, transparency of media ownership and audience measurement ), the second on the conditions for their proper functioning (for example, exposure of the public to a plurality of points of view, media innovation in the EU market) and the third on the fair allocation of the resources of the State (eg independence of public service media, transparency and fair distribution of state advertising).
Comments are also expected on the governance options that underpin the Act.
which could rely on the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA).
The proposal is expected to be presented by the Commission in the third quarter of 2022.
The open public consultation aims to collect opinions, evidence and data from citizens, in particular journalists, media (private and public service media), academics, civil society, public authorities, businesses and all interested parties to help the Commission shape these new rules.
Comments can be provided until March 21, 2022 on the Express Yourself Portal.
The adoption of the EU Media Freedom Act is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022, as indicated in the Commission’s Work Program 2022. It will build on the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which establishes rules for the independence of media regulators, promotes transparency of media ownership and recognizes that editorial decisions must be free from interference.

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