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On 24 July 2024, the European Commission published its annual Rule of Law Report, which includes the assessment of press freedom and media pluralism in Europe. This fifth edition is released at a critical time for some EU Member States that face serious threats to media pluralism and press freedom, such as Italy, Slovakia or Greece. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the recommendations issued by the report and immediately calls on the European Commission to consider sanctions as part of the gradual implementation of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).

The report includes specific recommendations for each EU Member States. For the first time this year, it features country chapters on four enlargement countries: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The Rule of Law Report is the result of multiple stakeholder consultations (including with the EFJ), country visits and based on valuable sources such as the Media Pluralism Monitor 2024. 

The report explores key aspects of the rule of law related to press freedom and media pluralism. It underlines the improvements made by Member States to guarantee journalists’ safety and a better working environment, in line with the 2023 Rule of Law Report: 

In Croatia, awareness raising efforts continue on SLAPPs targeting journalists, though progress is limited. In Lithuania, the Government adopted an action plan on the safety and protection of journalists and continues to strengthen their protection against abusive lawsuits. In Luxembourg, the Government has committed to reinforce the safety of journalists and a new draft law is expected to introduce safeguards for the protection of journalists in Slovenia. 

In its findings and recommendations, the report often refers to the new standards brought by the recently adopted European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) to ensure media ownership transparency, the transparent and fair allocation of state advertising, and the independent functioning of public service media. Failure in those areas remain the main issues raised by the report. 

According to the results, insufficient safeguards against undue political influence over the nomination process or in the functioning of regulators have been observed in Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Poland.

The EMFA will fully apply as of August 2025. EU infringement procedures will be implemented and applied to Member States that fail to comply with the new rules on independence and transparency. Meanwhile, the European Commission needs to closely monitor the implementation and transposition of the text by the EU Member States. The Rule of Law Report therefore can be used to conduct evidence-based dialogue with EU leaders.

EC Vice-President Vera Jourova declared at the press conference that “media should be independent and pluralistic to inform citizens. The protection of journalists is of utmost importance as well as the support for strong independent public media. We see improvement but we also see the deterioration of the situation in some countries”

This year, the EFJ particularly focused on the worrying developments in Italy, Greece and Slovakia. 

Italy

Recent developments in Italy show worrying trends regarding the governance and funding system of public service media. The reports recommends the following actions: 

• Continue the legislative process on the draft reform on defamation, the protection of professional secrecy and journalistic sources while revising it in order to avoid any risk of negative impacts on press freedom and ensure it takes into account European standards on the protection of journalists. 
• Ensure that rules or mechanisms are in place to provide funding for public service media that is appropriate for the realisation of its public service remit and to guarantee its independence.

“We are not surprised by the findings of the Rule of Law report. It was FNSI that had requested this spring the urgent mission of the Media Freedom Rapid Response to report what is happening in our country. From SLAPPs to punitive legislation against professional journalists and citizens‘ right to be informed, the concerns are real,” said Alessandra Costante, general secretary of the National Federation of Italian Journalists (FNSI). In addition to the political capture of the public broadcaster RAI and AGI press agency, she mentions “the ongoing reform of the rules on libel in the press, which risks further penalising journalists”. “Let us always remember that in Italy a freelancer earns less than twenty thousand euros a year and disproportionate fines can have a chilling effect on the work of reporters and on the right to report the news.

Greece

Serious challenges have undermined the work of journalists in Greece, such as the Predator Gate and the murder of the investigative journalist Giorgos Karaivaz. In this regard, the report recommends to: 

• Further advance with the process of adopting legislative and non-legislative safeguards to improve the protection of journalists, in particular as regards abusive lawsuits against journalists and their safety, in line with the adopted Memorandum of Understanding and taking into account European standards on the protection of journalists. 

Slovakia 

Looking back to the 2023 Rule of Law Report, Slovakia has failed to enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media and to take into account the European standards on public service media. In June, the Slovak Parliament proposed a controversial public broadcasting bill that would have seriously undermined media editorial independence. 

“The EU report confirms our major concerns about the deterioration in press freedom and media pluralism in Europe,” said EFJ President Maja Sever. “The findings are clear: press freedom is declining everywhere in Europe. We would have liked the report to be stronger on certain aspects. But what matters is that the European Commission takes action, as soon as the European Media Freedom Act is implemented in the coming months. As a follow-up to the Rule of Law Report, we call on the Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Italy, Slovakia, Greece, Hungary and all those who violate press freedom”.