European press publishers acknowledge today’s vote and caution against future media regulation as adopted EMFA sets a precedent

The European press publishers’ associations EMMA and ENPA take note of the adoption of the finalised European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) today in the European Parliament Plenary.

While we appreciate the attention to the crucial issues of press and media freedom and improvements brought in by the co-legislators, we must also note its shortcomings, including on the very premises of the text. In fact, while the most problematic provisions were mitigated and some positive results were achieved e.g. on the protection of journalists, the EMFA sets a precedent for regulating the press sector at European level and subjecting the press to a European media regulator, and for imposing rules on the internal functioning of newsrooms, restricting the management and involvement of publishers. Furthermore, despite EMFA’s procedural safeguards, legal editorial media content does not have sufficient protection against content moderation decisions by very large platforms.

Ilias Konteas, EMMA-ENPA Executive Director, said: “Press freedom is the core of press publishers’ work. Not only has EMFA opened the door to press regulation, but it enshrined in law misconceptions about the role of publishers, the precedence of platforms’ terms and conditions over the law, and the alleged assimilation of the press to audiovisual media. It remains to be seen how it will work in practice. It should still not pave the way to more prescriptive future media regulation, including in revisions of existing EU law.”

For further information, please contact:

Ilias Konteas

EMMA-ENPA Executive Director

Ilias.Konteas@enpa.eu