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29th Mar 2024

Brussels loth to tackle hornets' nest of Italian press dispute

  • Commissioner Reding said she may be open to another attempt at a directive on media concentration (Photo: European Community, 2006)

As the Italian Prime Minister fights for his political life, the European Commission has said it will not initiate proceedings against Italy over the government's alleged breach of press freedoms despite demands from Liberal, Socialist and Green parliamentarians.

Ahead of a raucous debate on Italy in the European Parliament on Thursday (8 October), media commissioner Viviane Reding addressed the chamber, giving the EU executive's declaration on freedom of expression in the southern member state.

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Careful to neither come to the defence of the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi's administration nor to accept the accusations levelled against it, Ms Reding said that the European Commission had no power to take action whatever is the case.

"With regard to pluralism in the written press, EU competences are substantially more limited," she told MEPs.

"The written press is one of the prime examples of national or even regional competences."

She went on to point out that the EU executive only has the power to enforce the protection of human rights when it comes to the actions of the EU institutions themselves and what member states do in the implementation of EU laws.

What happens outside these two areas, even if there is a manifest breach of human rights, has to be left to the state concerned.

"The fact that fundamental rights apply to EU policies does not make the EU competent for all matters related to fundamental rights in this or that EU member state."

Protection across Europe

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the Liberals in the parliament but also until last year the prime minister of Belgium, felt the commissioner was wrong in her interpretation of the EU treaties.

"It is on the basis of the treaty that we call on the commission to come up with a directive on media pluralism that would guarantee constitutional protections on media freedom in all countries of the union."

"I'm disappointed with the commissioner's remarks. Member states can do whatever they want so long as in line with their own constitution?" asked Mr Verhofstadt, a staunch euro-federalist.

"I don't agree. There are things that need to be protected across Europe."

The centre and left of the chamber wants the European Commission to propose a directive countering media concentration, in order to break up the media monopoly in Italy and prevent similar threats to the press elsewhere in Europe.

During the debate, they said that while the problem in Italy was manifest, infringements occurred across the EU, which was why their concerns required European action.

The MEPs say a climate of media intimidation in the country sees journalists fired for stepping out of line while others self-censor to hold onto their jobs.

Key posts in the media are also based on an individual being sufficiently deferential to the current administration, critics allege, in a situation which has seen Freedom House, a US-funded democracy promotion group, describe the media sector in Italy as only "partly free."

As a result, the deputies are requesting that the commission invoke Article 7 of the EU treaty, under which member states that commit a "serious and persistent breach" of fundamental rights can have their voting rights in the Council removed.

'Stalinist state'

The right of the chamber was infuriated by the accusations. The main centre-right grouping in the parliament, the European People's Party, together with the anti-federalist European Conservatives and Reformists and the hard-right eurosceptic Freedom and Democracy group all indignantly attacked the left for even attempting to have a debate on the subject.

The parties believe that the accusations are a left-wing attempt to undermine the government of Silvio Berlusconi.

Mario Mauro, a euro-deputy with Mr Berlusconi's party, said that the question of media freedom in Italy alone is raised by the left when the right is in power.

"Following the victory of the left, the problem disappeared as if by magic. The was no more drama in the European Parliament. No more collections of signatures. Now Berlusconi's back."

"It is clear that if you have centre-right government, the press is at risk; if you have a centre-left government, the press is not at risk."

Left-wing MEPs responded that when the left was in power, the prime minister was not a media mogul controlling most of the private broadcasters and publishers in the country.

Mr Mauro went on to accuse the left of trying to turn Europe into a "Stalinist state."

"This humiliation will be dear to italy to be the subject of this debate, the product of professional dis-informers. It will cost us dearly," he said. "But it will do worse for Europe if it starts handing out democracy licences not to defend freedom, but to defend a centralised sort of Stalinist state."

Mario Borghezio, an MEP from the anti-immigrant Lega Nord, which is in coalition with Mr Berlusconi's House of Freedoms alliance, said: "Everyone knows there is no country that has a freeer press than Italy."

"What about the [far-right Flemish party] Vlaams Belang in Belgium? Do they have freedom of access to the press in Belgium, or are they censored by any chance?" he continued, working himself into an angry frenzy. "Fine defenders of the press you are!"

"And in that soviet of journalists, the journalist's union, what freedom do you give to internal minority in the journalist unions? They just have to keep quiet and toe the line. why don't you go off to Cuba or Tehran or China. Shame on you! Cowards!"

As the chairwoman of the debate attempted to calm the deputy down, he held his arm aloft, saluting rigidly and shouting: "Long live free Italy!"

Commission open to directive

The tenor of the debate shook the commissioner when she took the podium at the end of the session, but she reminded the MEPs that the commission had attempted a draft directive on media concentration in the 1990s but was rebuffed by the Council, which said that this was outside the competence of the EU.

"Maybe this has changed now," she allowed, suggesting the commission may not be opposed to the idea.

"But before the commission [could move again on a new directive] we would have to have strong support from the whole of the parliament," she said, which could give the moral force to overcome opposition in the Council, "and I want the parliament to identify clearly which internal market problems it wants to tackle with such a measure."

The invocation of Article 7 remained beyond the pale, however.

"Article 7 is a very exceptional provision. It has never been activated so far. This clause can only apply if complete breakdown of national juridical order and fundamental rights in a given member state. We haven't reached that in any member state."

She reminded the chamber that the parliament also has the power to invoke Article 7. To do so, the parliament would require a four fifths majority. The European Council can also invoke the clause if a third of member states agree.

In doing so, she called the MEPs' bluff. "I call on the European Parliament if it really thinks there is proof enough to activate Article 7 to do so."

A Liberal source said that while movement on pushing for the directive would move forward, there are not the numbers in the house to do so, with the right of the chamber lining up to support Mr Berlusconi.

"It's just not on the cards," he said, adding that when Austria elected a conservative-far-right coalition government, the parliament initiated moves to isolate the member state, "which didn't go down well."

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