Parliamentary question

Written question to the European Commission

During the debate on government attempts to silence free media in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia, Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said that the Commission is ‘considering coming up with new measures and new tools’ to address these issues and that competition policy ‘is so important in my view to change because we have to capture the cases of mergers of the media at the national level, which go against the freedom of expression and freedom of media.’

Commissioner Thierry Breton later announced that the Commission was considering a ‘European Media Freedom Act to complement our legislative arsenal in order to ensure that media freedom and pluralism are the pillars of our democracies.’

We are seeing national merger control processes being increasingly used as an additional tool to silence free media. For example, the Polish competition authority (UOKiK) recently prohibited the acquisition of Eurozet, a Polish radio group, by Agora, a Polish media group known for its critical stance on the Polish Government, while approving the takeover of newspaper publisher Polska Press by the state-backed oil company PKN Orlen.

Is the Commission concerned about such developments and will it take action to further address them in its forthcoming European Media Freedom Act?

Answer given by Commissioner Breton on behalf of the European Commission

Media freedom, pluralism and independence are essential for democracy and the rule of law and for the well-functioning of the internal market for media.

The European Democracy Action Plan recognises the need to continuously strengthen media freedom and pluralism in order to build more resilient democracies across the EU and puts forward several measures to this end. The Media and Audiovisual Action Plan sets out investment and policy actions to help Europe’s media to be resilient and remain competitive at European and global levels.

The Commission is aware that recent developments in some Member States affecting ownership, management or operation of certain media outlets point to increasing political interference in the media sector that could create barriers in the EU media market, undermining at the same time fundamental European values.

The 2021 Rule of Law Report refers to several such developments, including the acquisition of Polska Press by PKN Orlen, which has raised concerns as a potential threat to media market pluralism.

The Commission is currently reflecting on further reinforcing the EU media framework with a potential new tool — the European Media Freedom Act.

The purpose of this initiative could be to increase transparency, independence and accountability of actions affecting media markets and media freedom and pluralism within the EU, thereby enhancing legal certainty and eliminating obstacles to internal market freedoms.