On Wednesday, 5 October 2022, MEP Irena Joveva attended a meeting between the European Parliament delegation and the North Macedonian Parliament (the Sobranie) and spoke about the state of the media and civil society in North Macedonia. First, she expressed her satisfaction at the unblocking of the accession negotiations and then, among other things, congratulated Macedonian civil society for acting as a guardian of society, protecting human rights and fighting for a better and fairer country.

During the two-day exchange of views between the two Parliaments, MEP Joveva, as Co-Chair, started her address in Macedonian and then focused on the state of the media and civil society in North Macedonia, which she follows closely. She praised the improvement in terms of media freedom in the country, which has progressed to a better level compared to other countries in the Western Balkans region. She added that the country still had some way to go in the area of fighting disinformation and ensuring transparency of state institutions.

Joveva also touched on the European Media Freedom Act. She said that the act was necessary to protect media freedom in the European Union, as political interference and government control should have no place in journalism. She stressed that media freedom is of the utmost importance for a functioning democracy.

To continue, Joveva welcomed that the accession negotiations were finally opened after they had been blocked for a long time by some EU Member States. In her speech, she also mentioned young people, who suffer the most from environmental, political and economic impacts. Other topics discussed by the participants included the energy crisis, the environment, the rule of law, good neighbourly relations, and cooperation in the region.

Referring to civil society organisations, she said: ‘They must be involved and consulted at all stages of decision-making, especially at local level in the policy-making phases.’

In conclusion, Joveva expressed her wish that the strategy for cooperation with North Macedonian civil society be implemented in a timely and transparent manner. She concluded her speech with the thought that the North Macedonian leaders should continue on the path of improvement strengthening an independent media, protecting journalists as well as the environment.

The delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), vice-chaired by MEP Joveva, met with members of the European Parliament and the Sobranie in the presence of representatives of the European Commission. The delegation meets in person twice a year to discuss the work of the two parliaments, their cooperation, joint activities and the approximation of North Macedonia to the European Union. The two-day exchange of views was followed by a vote on recommendations.

Today, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, MEP Irena Joveva addressed the European Parliament on the Health Union.

In her contribution, she pointed out that health is a sine qua non and that the quality of treatment and access to medicines should not depend on a person’s country of origin. She added that the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) should be strengthened and stressed the importance of successfully managing cross-border threats and public health risks.

Strengthening the mandate of the ECDC will enable the European Union to be better prepared and to coordinate its response to any future health crisis. Better cooperation between a wide range of authorities at all levels, the collection of timely and comparable data across the EU, and more accurate monitoring of national health systems will make it easier to fight disease outbreaks. The Health Union will ensure a stronger EU response to public health emergencies.

Here address can be viewed here.

On Tuesday, 17 May 2022, MEP Irena Joveva spoke at the Committee on Culture and Education on the progress of the report on the impact of COVID-19 closures of educational, cultural, youth and sports activities on children and young people in the EU, to which she contributes as a rapporteur on behalf of the Renew Europe political group. She said, among other things, that children and young people need to be educated about mental health.

In her introduction, Joveva praised the current draft report, not least for including the importance of the educational, environmental and interpersonal aspects for the physical and psychological development of adolescents, which is then reflected throughout their lives, as well as the significance of sufficient financial support for educational institutions to adequately support pupils, students and teachers from a mental health perspective.

“It is also great to see the integration and mutual cooperation between the Union, Member States, local authorities and youth organisations to alleviate the impact of the epidemic.”

The MEP went on to point out that the draft report should also mention activities to supplement curricula with content that would teach children and young people about mental health. She also drew attention to the negative aspect of the use of digital education, which has also been evident among young people over the last two years. She explained that her main wish was to destigmatise mental health and, at the same time, to normalise help-seeking of all those in need of support. Joveva announced that she would also submit amendments to complement the report with an initiative to increase the number of appropriately trained staff to support young people in need.

“The report should also better address the problems of young artists who have abandoned their artistic projects, some even their artistic careers, because of the closure of institutions and the uncertainty created.”

On Tuesday, 8 March 2022, MEPs discussed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a plenary session in Strasbourg. MEP Irena Joveva drew parallels between Dodik’s destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

Joveva began by pointing out that, unfortunately, in the 21^st century, autocrats and democracy destroyers still exist on European soil, threatening peace, human rights and fundamental freedoms:

“Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik is destroying the country and its institutions. He denies genocide. As if what the people there have been through were not enough. Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new war begins in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is branded a criminal. And rightly so, because that is exactly what he is.”

Despite the EU’s immediate response to Putin’s actions, Joveva expressed concern that those of Dodik are noticed much less: “How can anyone fail to condemn his moves? Does his affiliation with some parties make him any less evil? The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are no less deserving of a better life and leaders who care.” In her opinion, the citizens of BiH should be supported on their path to the European Union. “In the meantime, we must stand up – just as loudly –to all autocrats and criminals, because we have long seen too much hypocrisy of the European Union in this respect. Even within our own ranks. The methods are very similar. Unfortunately,” she concluded.

Joveva’s contribution to the plenary debate can be viewed on the link below:

On Tuesday, October 26, 2021, the Committee on Culture and Education held a discussion on the state of media freedom with European Commissioner Vera Jourova on the state of media freedom. In her introductory speech, the Commissioner placed Slovenia alongside Poland and Hungary and expressed concern about “numerous attempts to undermine the sustainability and independence of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) and public media service”. MEP Irena Joveva shares this concern and highlighted growing political pressure on the media in Slovenia. She named several proposals for legislative solutions that could help protect journalists and increase media freedom.

It was emphasized by the MEP at the beginning that the current pressure on the media was unprecedented. She cited the need for an Anti-SLAPP directive as well as discussion on so-called exceptions to the rules for editorial media that should not, in her view, apply equally to all media. Thus, Joveva proposed the use of delegated acts to waive the rules for those media with de facto editorial independence, which would also provide a view into the media itself.

Regarding the act or law on media freedom that is being prepared, she proposed harmonizing the rules and legislation of the Member States and establishing a common framework for public media at EU level that would also provide controls and binding safeguards to endure media freedom. She believes that the solution is to create new EU bodies or committees, made up of regulatory agencies for media supervision or representatives of the press. This would provide protection for the media when things go wrong, as it currently does in Slovenia with the STA (Slovenian Press Agency). Also, she stressed the issue of advertising transparency, especially in advertising transactions when state-owned companies or state funds are involved. She also called for the protection of private media from suspicious takeovers, such as TVN in Poland. She sees the solution in enhanced democratic control over all takeovers, which could also prevent the concentration of media ownership.

Commissioner Jourova also agrees, noting that ownership concentration is a broader media problem in the European Union (she cited the current French situation), especially now during the pandemic, when smaller media are financially weak. According to the commissioner, ownership has a significant influence on the way journalists write and report.

The MEP considers it most important to introduce rules to protect journalists from their owners, boards of directors from political parties and the public media from political interference. She is convinced that conditions must be created to protect journalists, as only then can they exercise the right to free speech. It is paramount that the European Union gains true strength in terms of media protection, otherwise it can only silently observe events like Slovenia, where democracy is on the biggest test, the MEP concluded.In her response, Commissioner Jourova expressed particular concern about state-funded media, citing the example of the KESMA Foundation in Hungary. Such pro-government media report only certain information and, as a result, have a key impact on the outcome of elections. Furthermore, they present a distorted picture of the state of democracy.

The Commissioner also emphasized the responsibility of the media as a whole, which should first “clean up its own mess”. If we are to protect the media sector and journalists, we must be sure we are defending professionals with high integrity who do their job in the interest of protecting objective facts, Jourova said. She added that there is a clear requirement for member states to provide funding for public service broadcasting, again pointing out Slovenia as an example. Transparency and disclosure of media ownership was also a topic discussed by the Commissioner, as she felt it is important for people to know who stands behind them.

You can watch the video with excerpts from the Commissioner’s introductory speech and MEP’s Irena Joveva’s questions and Vera Jourova’s answers below: