What changes with the new EU law on media freedom?

Thenew European Regulation on the Freedom of the Media , which is now binding, introduces for the first time into the European Union a law protecting journalists and the media from pressure, protecting the public media and strengthening the transparency of media companies.

As this is a regulation, its articles are binding on all EU States without the need for transposition, but some amendments require updating national legislation, and not all of them, including Spain, have arrived in time.

These are some of the key points that will be implemented thanks to the law known as EMFA :

Ownership of the media and institutional publicity

States shall establish media records with information on the ownership of communal property (including any number of shares likely to influence editorial decisions), specifying the amount of advertising investment received and the income received from foreign public funding.

In the Spanish State,  will be managedby the Committee on Markets and Competition, and communities must also have  registers.

However, the registration of a means of communication shall not be a prerequisite for its opening, but if it is not carried out, the Committee on Markets and Competition shall impose fines and shall be an objective element for the receipt of institutional publicity.

Transparency will also be enhanced with regard to institutional advertising of the media by organizations at different levels: media companies and public institutions , including communities and municipalities, will have to report on the budget they receive or allocate, respectively.

Guarantees for the public media

The law also provides for protective measures in defence of the independence of the public media. Henceforth, in each EU State, the criteria for the appointment and termination of senior officials, the duration of their terms of office and sufficient funding for the fulfilment of their purposes must be established by law.

Brussels originally intended to set the public media budgets for several years in order to ensure the stability of their projects and to prevent them from being used as an instrument of exchange in the negotiations for the adoption of the general budgets of each state.

However, they have decided that the public contribution to the negotiations should be "predictable and sustainable" , which is one of the issues that has not yet been developed in Spain.

Protecting journalists from espionage

One of the biggest obstacles to the negotiations was the attempt to include a clause that would allow journalists or their sources to be monitored if "national security" reasonswere argued .

Finally, the Act makes a general reference to 'respect the responsibilities of the Member States' in this area, so that journalists affected by this exception must be fully informed of the measures taken against them and may lodge a judicial appeal.

The new rule also prohibits pressuring journalists or the media to force the disclosure of their sources.