Brussels, 03/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Hungary is not the only country where media freedom is under threat and the EU has to provide itself with tools to tackle this challenge. This was the theme of the hearing organised on Thursday 3 March by the S&D Group at the European Parliament. With the Hungarian media law as a backdrop, this hearing shed light on the practices of four other member states: France and Italy amongst the older member states and Bulgaria and Romania, among the new members.
Intimidation of journalists, attacks on the protection of confidential sources, confusion of remits and conflicts of interest or even the omnipotence of the parties in power when imposing their timeframes and appointments in the media - all these characteristics, in a variety of different forms, can be found in these five countries, speakers at the hearing pointed out.
Attacks on media freedom are a real danger to democracy and could empty it of any real meaning, explained Roberto Natale, the president of the Federazione nazionale stampa italiana. In Bulgaria, the number of journalists being bugged continues to rise and the media lives in a permanent climate of fear and police surveillance, explained Borislav Tsekov, the director of the Modern Politics Institute. Tsekov referred to a Bulgarian law on slander and defamation, which also includes penalties against journalists, the notion of which remains very “vague”.
In this context, colloquy speakers also put forward a number of possibilities to rectify the situation, such as a European directive on conflicts of interest, a directive on media pluralism and the setting up of a Parliament taskforce, which would bring together representatives from civil society and the media. Another idea was mooted, namely, using the lever of their Citizens' Initiative, included in the Lisbon Treaty.
In this area, European standards are still too weak and the speakers deplore the fact that for example, the commissioner responsible for the media, Neelie Kroes, was unable to draw on the “Audiovisual Services” directive as a means of criticising Hungary. On Friday 25 February, the commissioner for fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, also expressed her scepticism about the EU's ability to go further on the question of media freedom. She pointed out that the Commission could only take action “on the basis of the Treaty” and that the, “Treaties did not include a law on the media”.
The S&D Group agrees with enlarging the debate to other groups and is counting on action already being prepared at the Parliament, such as action to be taken by the LIBE committee. This committee will hold an extraordinary meeting with the Council of Europe on Monday 7 March on the Hungarian media law and the situation of the media in the EU. The LIBE committee is also trying to prepare a draft initiative on media freedom, on the basis of the work carried out by the Council of Europe, as well as elements which will be requested from the European Agency on Fundamental Rights. (S.P./transl.fl)