As the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield prepares to vote on its report next week, News Media Europe calls on MEPs to ensure that efforts to strengthen resilience against foreign interference and information manipulation remain firmly anchored in the principles of media freedom and editorial independence. While stronger cooperation is essential, proposals to equip the EU to counter disinformation must be accompanied by clear safeguards to ensure that public authorities do not assume a role in determining the truthfulness of journalistic content.

We support the Centre’s objective of fostering democratic resilience, facilitating the exchange of expertise, and improving preparedness against hybrid threats.  Efforts to facilitate cooperation between Member States make a valuable contribution to protecting Europe’s democracies.

And so while the European Centre for Democratic Resilience should remain a platform for cooperation and capacity-building it should not evolve into a mechanism that assesses, or arbitrates the accuracy of journalistic content produced by professional and editorial news media.

The role of journalism in democratic societies is fundamentally distinct from that of public authorities. Preserving editorial independence, media freedom and media plurality must remain guiding principles in the implementation of the European Democracy Shield.

The most effective response to disinformation is not to fact-check professional journalism, but the strengthening of a diverse, pluralistic and economically sustainable independent news ecosystem. Citizens are best protected against manipulation and disinformation when they have access to trusted, professional journalism from a wide range of independent sources.

For this reason, we call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States to ensure that the European Democracy Shield includes ambitious measures to support news media. Investments that strengthen media sustainability, innovation, media plurality, journalistic capacity and citizens’ access to reliable news should be at the heart of Europe’s democratic resilience agenda.

News Media Europe looks forward to engaging constructively with EU institutions and other stakeholders to ensure that the European Democracy Shield delivers meaningful support for independent and pluralistic news media, recognising that strong journalism remains the most effective long-term defence against disinformation and democratic manipulation.

Contact: Wout van Wijk, Executive Director