On 16 September 2022, the European Commission published a draft proposal for a regulation on establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market , amending Directive 2010/13/EU. The proposal is widely known as the European Media Freedom Act.
The new Act, which is currently being addressed by the European Parliament, includes measures against political interference, surveillance, independence and stable funding of Public Service Media, transparency of media ownership and of the allocation of state advertising, as well as measures to protect the independence of editors and disclose conflict of interest. At the same time, the Act envisages measures on media concentration and creates a new Board for Media Services.
Considering these innovations introduced by the Act and the possible implications for the European media sphere, the discussion will feature three thematic sessions, each focused on a specific topic emerging from the proposal, and ultimately investigating an overarching question: will these novel and common measures be sufficient to counter the risks for media pluralism and media freedom in the EU?