Comments invited: European Media Freedom Act to be supplemented with national legislation

The Ministry of Transport and Communications is requesting comments on a draft government proposal on legislation to supplement the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The deadline for submitting comments is 14 February 2025.

The EMFA was adopted on 11 April 2024. The Act aims to safeguard the pluralism and independence of media services in the EU and reinforce the common rules for the functioning of the internal market for media services.

For the most part, the EMFA is directly applicable legislation in EU Member States. The purpose of the government proposal now circulating for comments is to make amendments to national legislation required by the Act.

The Act requires that national rules be laid down to enable an assessment of the impact of media market concentrations on media pluralism and editorial independence.

The EMFA imposes an obligation on the authorities and public bodies, such as municipalities, and companies owned by them, to report their expenditure for advertising and announcements. Correspondingly, media service providers should report their revenue from state advertising. Provisions concerning the monitoring of certain obligations of the Act as well as the powers of the authorities must also be laid down at the national level.

The EMFA requires national legislation on the criteria and procedures on the appointment and dismissal of managers of public service media. This will be carried out in a separate legislative project concerning amendments to the Act on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), as outlined by the parliamentary working group on YLE.

New act on monitoring the media market

The government proposal now under consultation proposes a new act on the monitoring of the media market. The act would assign the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom the task of assessing how media market concentrations exceeding the turnover limits laid down in the Competition Act affect media pluralism and editorial independence. However, the assessment would not prevent corporate acquisitions. It is estimated that only a small number of acquisitions would be assessed by Traficom each year.

Traficom would be tasked with monitoring compliance with the obligations laid down in the EMFA in Finland. As part of monitoring, Traficom would be assigned with the task of establishing a national, open database containing information on media ownership. Under the proposal, the authorities, public bodies and media service providers would be required to notify Traficom once the information on state advertising has been published.

It is proposed that the implementation of the EMFA be carried out at a minimum level and by making full use of the national room for manoeuvre.

What’s next?

All citizens and organisations are invited to submit comments on the draft government proposal at lausuntopalvelu.fi. The deadline for submitting comments is 14 February 2025. Public officials will continue the law drafting after the consultation round.

The application of the EMFA will largely begin on 8 August 2025, which means that the national provisions must also be in force by that time. The government proposal is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament in spring 2025.

Inquiries:

Eero Salojärvi, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 342 123, [email protected]
Roosa Patrakka, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 342 192, [email protected]