The European Parliament (EP) today validated legislation that safeguards the freedom of the media, pluralism, combats threats to press freedom and ensures the viability of the media in the 27 countries.
The agreement was approved by 23 MEPs from the Culture and Education Committee, four votes against and two abstentions.
On January 19, European Union (EU) countries confirmed the provisional agreement reached in December on legislation to free media outlets and ensure pluralism and editorial independence.
In a statement released at the time, the EU Council announced that the ambassadors of the 27 supported the provisional agreement of 15 December 2023 between the Council and the European Parliament to establish a “common framework” for media services within the EU. HUH.
The objective: to safeguard media freedom, pluralism and editorial independence, within EU territory.
The EU wants to “protect journalists and media service providers” from “political interference”, and, at the same time, facilitate operations within EU countries.
“The new rules will guarantee the right of citizens to access free and plural information, and define the responsibility of Member States to provide appropriate conditions to protect [journalists and media outlets]”, says the statement.
The proposal was presented in September 2022 by the European Commission, as a way of standardizing the rights that media bodies have within the 27 and protecting them so that journalism can exercise its function of investigation and scrutiny of powers under the best conditions. .
Negotiations with the European Parliament to finalize the legislation ended in October 2023 and the provisional agreement arrived two months later.
After the last parts of the text have been drafted, the law should be adopted by April this year.
Comments