News Media Europe, together with EPC, ENPA, EMMA and AER, jointly representing tens of thousands of commercial media brands, newspapers, magazines, radio and broadcasters across the EU, would like to bring to your attention a key point for the viability of the media sector to consider during the trialogue negotiations on the European Media Freedom Act.

In our view, specific language in Article 5(3) will have very dire consequences for media pluralism in the EU, by exposing commercial and independent media to unfair public sector competition and compromising its financial sustainability. We fear that such provisions go directly against the EMFA objective of promoting media pluralism and independence across the Union. We therefore ask you to remove such wording from Article 5(3) and ensure that the funding and remit of public service media remains only subject to EU state aid rules and the Amsterdam Protocol.

Please find our full statement here.

We thank you for your consideration and remain available to contribute constructively to the debate, ensuring that both public service and commercial media can serve their respective roles in a pluralistic European media landscape.

With best regards,

AER – Association of European Radios – www.aereurope.org

EMMA – European Magazine Media Association – www.magazinemedia.eu

ENPA – European Newspaper Publishers’ Association – www.enpa.eu

EPC – European Publishers Council – www.epceurope.eu

NME – News Media Europe – www.newsmediaeurope.eu 

For a full overview of News Media Europe’s recommendations for the EMFA negotiators, please follow this link.