European Parliament wants further changes in Hungarian media law

The members of the European Parliament call for a further review of Hungary’s media law, despite the changes voted this week by the Hungarian Parliament. They also urged the Commission to propose this year an EU directive on media freedom, pluralism and independent governance.

Parliament calls on the Hungarian authorities to restore independence of media governance and to stop state interference with freedom of expression and their insistence on “balanced coverage”. “Over-regulation of media is counterproductive to the existence of an effective pluralism in the public sphere”, says the resolution.

MEPs also point out that “media pluralism and freedom continues to be a grave concern in the EU and its Member States, notably in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic and Estonia”. They ask the Commission to propose a directive on media freedom, pluralism and independent governance before the end of this year.