Brussels, 18/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The public hearing last week organised by the European Parliament's Culture and Media Committee chaired by Michel Rocard on the role of the media in candidate and Stability Pact countries focussed on monopolisation of the media and professional ethics. An EP press release notes that during the debate Freimut Duve, OSCE representative for press freedom, warned about the freedom and pluralism of the press being jeopardised in Italy. Mark Thompson from International Crisis said that nothing significant can be done about his at the moment at European level. He called for a directive on press freedom. Oliver Money-Kyrle from the International Journalists' Federation lamented the low quality of the media in candidate and Stability Pact countries, adding that the issue of media concentration had to be put on the European Union's political agenda. He echoed Ulpu Iivari (PES, Finland) in criticising some journalists' lack of independence and inadequate ethical standards. Ms Iivari suggested that use be made of the Socrates Programme for training candidate country journalists. Antje-Karin Pieper, former legal director of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and MEP Mercedes Echerer (Green, Austria), argued that free organisation of the media had to be organised, independent of the state.