Décidemment, une commissaire européenne bien occupée...

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media_taskforce/pluralism/hlg/index_en.htm

The High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism presented its report on January 21, 2013.

The group, which is fully independent, was established in October 2011 by Vice-President Neelie Kroes, and is chaired by the former President of Latvia, Professor Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. The other members are Professor Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Professor Luís Miguel Poiares Pessoa Maduro and Ben Hammersley.

The mandate of the group was to draw up a report for the Commission with recommendations for the respect, protection, support and promotion of pluralism and freedom of the media in Europe. The findings and recommendations of the Group are now public and are available on this page.

The Commission invited the group to analyse and provide recommendations on issues such as:

• limitations to media freedom arising from political interference (state intervention or national legislation)
• limitations to media independence arising from private and commercial interference
• the question of the concentration of media ownership and its consequence for media freedom/pluralism and on the independence of journalists
• existing or potential legal threats to the protection of journalists' rights and their profession in Member States
• the role and independence of regulatory authorities
• existing or potential measures in favour of quality journalism, ethics and media accountability, within the respective competences of national, EU and international authorities.

The final report

The full Terms of Reference.

See press release (October 2011)

The European Commission provides the secretariat of the Group.


‘The freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected.’
Article 11.2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

A free and pluralistic media to sustain
European democracy
The Report of the
High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism
Professor Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (Chair)
Professor Herta Däubler-Gmelin
Ben Hammersley
Professor Luís Miguel Poiares Pessoa Maduro
January 2013

Table of Contents
Summary of Key Findings and Recommendations p. 3
The High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism p. 9
1. Why media freedom and pluralism matter p. 10
1.1 The democratic function of the media p. 10
1.2 The public function of the media p. 11
1.3 Defining media freedom and pluralism p. 12
1.4 Diversity p. 14
1.5 Challenges to media freedom and pluralism at Member State level p. 15
2. The role of the European Union p. 17
2. The role of the European Union p. 17
2.1 Recent EU Actions with regard to media freedom and pluralism p. 18
2.2 EU competences in protecting media freedom and pluralism p. 19
2.3 Cross-border issues within the Single Market p. 21
2.4 Competition and concentration p. 23
2.5 Promoting European values beyond EU borders p. 24
3. The changing media landscape p. 26
3.1 The impact of new technologies p. 26
3.2 Changing business models p. 28
3.3 Changing nature of journalism p. 29
3.4 Changes in how people relate to media p. 30
4. Protection of journalistic freedom p. 32
4.1 Rights of journalists p. 32
4.2 Responsibility of journalists p. 32
4.3 Who is covered by journalistic rights and responsibilities? p. 34
4.4 Enforced self-regulation p. 35
5. Media Pluralism p. 37
5.1 Public service broadcasting p. 38
5.2 European coverage p. 39
Annex A - What we are building on p. 41
Hearings p. 41
Written contributions p. 42
Documents p. 44