Karim Iburki and Mark Dempsey believe that the inclusion of a “media pluralism test” in the proposal for a European Media Freedom Act is a very welcome innovation. However, some changes at Board level are needed for its successful implementation, Euractiv reports.
Mark Dempsey is a Senior EU Advocacy Officer at the free speech organisation Article 19. Karim Iburki is a board member of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) and President of the Conseil supérieur de l’Audiovisuel.
In September 2022, the European Commission proposed the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). This was an important step towards ensuring media independence and pluralism in the European Union. This regulation provides “general safeguards to protect media freedom and pluralism in the EU”. EMFA represents a unique opportunity to address many of the challenges facing media across the EU.
Recently, the issue of concentration of media ownership has become a growing problem in many EU countries. Without appropriate controls to guarantee editorial independence and media freedom, concentration poses a serious challenge to media pluralism and independence: as the number of diverse and independent publications decreases, the likelihood of media takeovers increases.
A common interest in ensuring the best possible outcome of the current negotiations regarding the media plurality test for media mergers – one of EMFA’s main innovations brings together the free speech organisation ARTICLE 19 and Karim Iburki, board member of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) and president of the High Council for Audiovisual Media, according to Euractiv.
The concentration of economic power in the hands of a small number of players poses a danger to freedom of expression and media freedom in a number of EU countries. Currently, national rules governing media mergers vary widely. More than half of EU member states do not take into account the element of public interest when assessing mergers. Few of them specifically refer to media pluralism. This fragmentation is detrimental to the internal market, media business models and EU citizens. Article 21 EMFA intends to change the situation.
The introduction of a pluralism test for media mergers provides three criteria to be used in the assessment. These criteria include the availability of alternative options to ensure the economic sustainability of the organisations involved, the impact of the merger on the formation of public opinion and on the diversity of media actors, and the extent to which editorial independence is guaranteed.
The media pluralism test is a welcome and much-needed solution that recognises the fundamental role of media diversity, independence and sustainability in the functioning of democracy. It will create a level playing field for all participating countries and increase legal certainty for economic operators. Most importantly, citizens will be able to access media services of the same quality regardless of where they are in the EU. The test ensures that even in smaller and less sustainable media markets, media diversity and pluralism will be the main objectives that regulators will have to take into account, Euractiv reports.
Article 21 will be discussed at the inter-institutional negotiations (“trilogues”) at the end of November, and a number of analysts believe that some improvements could be made. For example, the European Media Services Council (the “Council”), the successor body to ERGA, should be more independent. The Council should be able to issue opinions on mergers that may significantly affect media pluralism and editorial independence on its own initiative, and not only at the request of the European Commission, as provided for in the current proposal. This is necessary to ensure the full independence of the Council and to maintain its credibility as a body acting in the interests of the EU internal market.
The Council has several important functions to fulfil, firstly to develop guidance to ensure that the three criteria set out in Article 21 are clearly understood and consistently applied. It is essential that the guidance is clear in cases of contradictions between the criteria, where not all criteria can be achieved at the same time.
It is hoped that EMFA will be finalised before the end of the current legislative period, the media plurality test will take time to ’embed’. Some level of experimentation and learning will be required, but in working with independent national regulators it is essential that transparency is a key feature of what will initially be an innovative process.
Finally, it is important that the future European Media Services Council is adequately resourced and effectively independent to properly fulfil its new responsibilities under EMFA. In this context, consultations with civil society organisations such as Article 19 and others will be relevant and very valuable for its members.
