The institutions of the European Union reached an agreement yesterday, after five hours of discussion, on the European media freedom law, a new regulation that seeks to protect media pluralism and editorial independence, and improve transparency in institutional advertising.
The agreement reached, which will require ratification by the Council and Parliament, aims to better protect journalists in the exercise of their work, especially their freedom to work without having to reveal their sources, in addition to improving the independence of the media. of public communication. “This law allows us to take a very important leap in the defense and strengthening of the rule of law, in the defense of freedom of the press, at a very important moment for the continent, an important step forward to protect our democracies,” defended the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, since Spain holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.
The most controversial point of the law, and the one that has most complicated the negotiations from the beginning, was the question of including an exception to be able to spy on journalists and/or their sources if reasons of “national security” were argued. A red line for the European Parliament, because they feared that if it added this clause, all kinds of justifications could be used that would impede the exercise of its work, as argued by the journalist organizations that had warned about the dangers that this would entail.
The MEPs in their position had defended that the use of spyware could only be a “last resort” tool, analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and never without prior independent judicial authorization that would only allow it if there were indications of “serious crimes” (such as terrorism or human trafficking). Finally, in one of those typically EU solutions, a general mention of “respecting the responsibilities of member states” was added instead.
The law will also require administrations to make public in an annual report the budget they allocate to institutional advertising and the amount to each medium and group. The agreement contemplates that, to prevent the media from being “extremely dependent” on institutional advertising, the funds will be allocated through “open and non-discriminatory procedures”, based on public criteria.
Likewise, countries must evaluate media purchase operations and mergers that may affect pluralism or editorial independence. Each country must also create a national database that includes the names of the owners of the media, information that must be accessible to citizens, as well as anyone who has a percentage of shares that has any influence on decisions. editorials.
