Why does it matter?

The European Union (EU) has been legislating on core issues that impact the media sector. The EU has passed landmark legislation, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, to hold big tech platforms to account for their arbitrary behaviour and to tackle unfair trading practices towards users including the media sector. A new EU media law, the European Media Freedom Act, aims to protect media and journalists from undue pressure from governments or big tech. It also enshrines independent governance and reliable and sufficient funding for public service media into EU law. The EU AI Act is one of the first comprehensive AI laws in the world. It sets standards to promote the development and uptake of safe and trustworthy AI systems.  

The EU must continue to prioritise the media sector’s health and well-being as well as remain vigilant for new concerns that will arise and not shy away from continuing to regulate when the need arises.

What are we doing about it?

As the implementation of these important laws happens across EU Member States, the EBU speaks with lawmakers highlighting the specific needs of public service media. Further we keep across new legislative and policy initiatives, contributing to ensure that they are fit for purpose. We engage with media sector stakeholders combining our resources and strengths for an effective approach to advocacy.  

Our advocacy is essential to ensure that public service media can continue to serve society effectively, through their unique position as reliable sources of information and cultural enrichment for all. This is particularly critical given the growing challenges of disinformation and societal polarisation.  

The main areas that we work on can be found on our Legal and Policy homepage.

Through ongoing dialogue with the EU institutions, including through our policy positions,  we ensure that the needs of our Members are considered and work to create a regulatory environment that enables public service media to flourish. 

Complementing our advocacy work, our publications keep Members well-informed on EU legislation and regulation. Our work encompasses a wide variety of issues that affect media, including copyright and intellectual property, artificial intelligence, competition, online platforms, content regulation, funding and sustainability. We also keep our Members up-to-date with all important EU media-related news.