The proposed European Media Freedom Act, which will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the member states, would establish a set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU.

It would include safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and against surveillance, as well as providing for transparency of media ownership and of the allocation of state advertising. It also sets out measures to protect independence of editors and disclose conflicts of interest.

A new independent European Board for Media Services (EBMS), comprised of national media authorities, would be established to promote the effective and consistent application of the EU media law framework.

The EBMS would assist the Commission in preparing guidelines on media regulatory matters and will be able to issue opinions on national measures and decisions affecting media markets and media market concentrations.

It will also organise a structured dialogue between very large online platforms and the media sector to promote access to diverse media offers and to monitor platforms’ compliance with self-regulatory initiatives, such as the EU code of practice on disinformation.

Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice-president for values and transparency, said: “We have seen over the past years various forms of pressure on the media. It is high time to act.

“We need to establish clear principles: no journalist should be spied on because of their job; no public media should be turned into propaganda channel. This is what we are proposing today for the first time ever: common safeguards to protect media freedom and pluralism in the EU.”

Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market, added: “The EU is the world’s largest democratic single market. Media companies play a vital role but are confronted with falling revenues, threats to media freedom and pluralism, the emergence of very large online platforms, and a patchwork of different national rules.

“The European Media Freedom Act provides common safeguards at EU level to guarantee a plurality of voices and that our media are able to operate without any interference, be it private or public. A new European watchdog will promote the effective application of these new media freedom rules and screen media concentrations so they do not hamper plurality.”