On 22 May 2024, the European Movement International, together with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Media Diversity Institute Global (MDI Global) and OBC Transeuropa, wrote to the European Commission, addressing the deterioration of the state of media freedom in the Italy and requesting action from the EU.
The European Commission responded on 10 July, highlighting the EU’s efforts to safeguard and promote media freedom and media pluralism, not least through the Media Freedom Act, the Anti-SLAPP Directive, and within the framework of the annual Rule of Law Reports.
Although we welcome the Commission’s response, and the works they have done to put in place legislation that can protect media freedom across the EU, the fact remains that since our initial correspondence in May, the situation facing journalists and media outlets in Italy has worsened.
The government’s interference in RAI (Italy’s public national broadcaster) has been consistently growing, further undermining its independence and culminating with the termination of the programme “Chesarà…”, anchored by Serena Bortone, the journalist who defied editorial intervention and read Antonio Scurati’s anti-fascist speech on Italy’s Liberation Day.
At the same time, we have taken note that the Commission has delayed the publication of the annual Rule of Law Report, which we hoped would cast the spotlight on the Italian government’s attacks on media freedom in the country. The decision to delay the Report’s publication until after the European Parliament is expected to vote for the European Commission President is further cause for concern.
Therefore, we reiterate our request to launch an investigation into the Italian government’s attempts to capture media and public information, in line with the standards of the European Media Freedom Act and the EU’s fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union.
Our first letter, sent on May 22, can be found here.
The European Commission’s reply send on 12 July can be found here.
Our response, sent on 12 July, can be found here.
