Media experts urge 'reconquest' of press freedom across EU

During a European Parliament conference titled 'Media freedom under threat: National problems, European solutions', organised by the Socialists & Democrats group, MEPs described the media freedom situation in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and France as "extremely dangerous".

Xavier Vidal-Folch, associate director of Spanish daily El Pais, said the situation was even more alarming because the deterioration had occurred since the entry into force of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, and since it made legally binding the bloc's bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

He said that these attacks against media freedom could be taking different forms, such as through internal restructuring of public media and new legislation, or even simply as through attempts by authorities to spy on journalists.

Secretary-General of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Aidan White said that the EU would not have any global credibility if it did not practice at home what it preaches worldwide in terms of media freedom standards, and strongly advocated putting in place an EU think-tank for media policies capable of putting forward solutions to press freedom problems.

Journalists also called for stronger response at all levels when attempts to curtail media freedoms become evident, citing the controversial Hungarian media law that had been brewing for months but elicited no reaction at first.

During the conference, speakers spoke of the media situation in their own respective countries:

In Romania, a new draft law could require journalists to pass psychiatry examinations every year, while amendments to the Romanian Broadcasting law tabled recently allows government to “give money to whomever it wants.”

According to speakers, the new Defence Strategy of Romania identified the media as a threat and a factor of "vulnerability" for the state. Likely to be approved by parliament, the strategy will be followed by legal force to deal with this perceived media "threat".

An executive director of the Centre of Independent Journalism in Romania said that a new draft law in her country would require journalists to pass psychiatry examinations every year.

In Italy, new legislation could allow Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to purchase even more newspapers – in addition to the colossal media empire that dominates the Italian media industry.

Speakers also complained of legislation legalising wiretapping of journalists, as well as a libel law which “could claim tens of thousands of euros from journalists.”

In Bulgaria, speakers explained how one bank (the Corporate Commercial Bank) is given the privilege of running all financial transactions on behalf of the state as well as controlling a large number of media firms. These, speakers said, are, in exchange, giving lip service to the government.

One speaker also said that under the present government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, "a climate of fear" had been instigated by the authorities against the media and citizens.

In France, the media was said to have been “completely mutated” – examples of such instances including how recent legislation allows the president to appoint and dismiss public media bosses, which are nevertheless completely dependant on state budget, as well as applying pressures on critical investigative media outlets.

In Hungary, the recent oppressive law which the EU reacted to was described as merely the “tip of the iceberg”.