5 oktober 2022

Conference on Media Freedom and Pluralism in EU Law (11 October, Brussels)

The European Union is based on democracy and the rule of law. While this was taken for granted for many years, this is no longer the case in some EU member states. Democracy and the rule of law need free and pluralist media, which are increasingly under threat.The Meijers Committee has recently published a report on what the EU could do better to protect media freedom and pluralism in Europe.The European Commission is well aware of the problematic state of media freedom and has initiated the European Media Freedom Act to address the problems. The proposal for the European Media Freedom Act has been published on 16 September 2022. The Meijers Committee – in collaboration with the International Press Institute – is organizing a Conference on Media Freedom and Pluralism in EU law to discuss in two panels (i) the existing EU legal instruments, and (ii) the proposal for the European Media Freedom Act. This discussion is meant to assist the EU institutions and Member States in deciding how to respond to transgressions of media freedom and pluralism within the European Union.

Date
Tuesday 11 October 2022

Location
Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels

Speakers
Panel 1: Prof. Dr. Elda Brogi (EUI); Ramona Strugariu (MEP: RENEW); Maria Luisa Stasi (ARTICLE 19)
Panel 2: Prof. Dr. Tarlach McGonagle (Leiden; University of Amsterdam); Dr. Anna Herold (EC, DG CNECT); Oliver Money-Kyrle (IPI)

Panel 1: Media freedom and EU law: what legal tools are available and are they sufficient?

In this panel, we outline existing avenues for EU legal action to protect media freedom and pluralism, such as the obligation to guarantee media independence and freedom as part of and fair elections, rules on state aid, and secondary legislation on the audiovisual media and electronic communications markets.

Panel 2: the European Media Freedom Act

This panel discusses the new European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which has been initiated by the European Commission on 16 September 2022. Until March 2022, the EFMA has been in the consultation phase, intending to collect views, evidence, and data.

Registration
You are kindly invited to take part in this conference, which you can attend on-site or online.

For on-site registration, please fill out the form using this link.

For online registration, please fill out the form using this link.

Should you wish to receive more information, please contact our secretary, Jasper van Berckel Smit at j.vanberckelsmit@commissie-meijers.nl.