Brussels, 08/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday evening, 7 January, Polish foreign minister Aleksander Stepkowski replied to the letter from the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, about the recent public media law in Poland.
In the letter, published in the Financial Times, Stepkowski accuses the Commission of being misinformed about the reforms and basing its queries on a biased view of the government's action.
The minister points out that Poland values freedom of speech and pluralism of the media, as inscribed in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, going on to explain that the new law is not related in any way with the EU directive on audiovisual services referred to by Timmermans in the letter he sent in December.
The minister says that the powers of the Polish Higher Audiovisual Council have not been altered, apart from its ability to decide on the membership of management teams for public media. The amendment will be introduced to, among other things, improve relations between the regulatory body and market operators, he said, adding that it would never have a bad effect on media pluralism.
Stepkowski said that the government had the support of the Polish Journalists' Association (SDP) and the press had been able to report on the new media law incorrectly. Commissioner spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said on Friday 8 January that the Commission was studying the letter.
The Polish authorities have provided brief information to the Commission about another reform under investigation by the latter, namely reform of the Constitutional Court. They simply informed the Commission that they had sent a letter on the subject to the Council of Europe's Venice Commission. The college of commissioners is due to hold a policy debate on the situation in Poland and respect of the rule of law on Wednesday 13 January (see EUROPE 11463). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Jan Kordys)