European Commission adopts a novel set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence

The European Commission has adopted the European Media Freedom Act. The proposed Regulation includes safeguards against political interference, independence, and stable funding of public service media, transparency of media ownership, allocation of state advertising in editorial decisions, and against surveillance.  It also sets out measures to protect the independence of editors and disclose conflicts of interest. 
The Act will address the issue of media concentrations and create a new independent European Board for Media Services, comprised of national media authorities.

Ms. Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said: ‘We have seen over the past years various forms of pressure on the media. It is high time to act. We need to establish clear principles: no journalist should be spied on because of their job; no public media should be turned into a propaganda channel. This is what we are proposing today for the first time ever: common safeguards to protect media freedom and pluralism in the EU’. The Commission also adopted a complementary Recommendation to encourage internal safeguards for editorial independence.