Brussels, 21/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 January, a year after the controversy that pitted the European Commission against Hungary over the country's new media law, the high-level group on freedom and media pluralism (set up at the time by Neelie Kroes) drew up a rather mixed balance sheet on the media landscape in the European Union's member states and explored ways of stepping up EU action.
In their report, the experts on the high-level group, headed by the former Latvian president, Vaira Vike-Freiberg, highlighted a series of blows to the principle of pluralism and media freedom, such as laws restricting the freedom of expression, a high level of political control on media management boards and the abusive use of laws on defamation that, for example, aim to restrict journalistic investigations or silence certain politicians.
The expert group did not single out any specific country but did refer to the incestuous relationship between a number of press barons and politicians. The group is concerned by the level of media concentration in the hands of certain magnates and the lack of transparency in certain modes of media funding. Journalists are not spared criticism by the group either, which deplores the ability of some of them to corrupt certain institutions, such as the police, for example, to obtain scoops.
After setting out its observation, the high-level group proposed new areas for EU action. Although Article 7 of the treaty has suspension of a country's voting rights in Council as a last resort for a country - this was mooted during the Hungarian “crisis” - this remains difficult to implement and would only be possible in “exceptional circumstances”. The report suggests that the EU should have the power to threaten the withdrawal of certain European funds from a country and also suggests that the EU should have a remit in affairs involving breaches of democratic freedom in the media.
In the approximately 30 recommendations, the experts suggest that the EU should be able to better monitor concentration in the press and challenge them more often under the terms of competition rules. The experts consider that every country should have its own independent media council, involving civil society and the entire political spectrum. Other suggestions include ensuring that freedom of expression is respected and that media pluralism is an essential component of accession negotiations. It also argues that journalists' freedom should be underlined at all international meetings.
This report was discussed on Monday afternoon by members of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee and was well received by a number of political groups, such as the Greens/EFA. Rui Tavares, a member of this group, is currently drawing up a specific report on Hungary. The Commission explained on Monday that the high level group's recommendations would be the subject of a public consultation, at the end of which the Commission will establish its position on this issue. (SP/transl.fl)