Olivia Metelo, Press Corps 18
EUROPEAN COUNCIL, Contemporary Crisis — The European Council passed a directive supporting public access to individual media organizations and scientifically-based accurate information regarding the novel COVID-19 pandemic, council members tell the NAIMUN Daily.
Mette Frederiksen, prime minister of Denmark, was a sponsor for the directive and spoke on the importance of the policies for the European Union.
“We believe that it's necessary for each individual country to have centralized access to their own media outlets,” said Frederiksen.
Another directive, “Council Cable,” attempted to address media bias and censorship by creating a European Union-wide media organization. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, was a co-sponsor of the directive and noted the media organization’s potential to reshape European media to be more factual.
“If there was a station funded by the European Union, that was created by all of the nations,” said Michel, “it could help to prevent democratic backsliding and make sure that all the people of Europe are getting the most accurate current events and factual news.”
However, not all council members agreed. Klaus Iohannis, president of Romania, raised concerns about too much power being put in one media organization.
“It would be a little too controlling for a media outlet,” said Iohannis. “It can lead to a monopoly on the media that is produced. It’s more important for individual sources to be heard.”
Similarly, Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, felt that one organization defining what can be deemed “unbiased” could become problematic.
“We weren’t okay with the fact that the EU was overstepping its territory and trying to impose the idea that one source of information is okay because every country has a different idea about what is unbiased,” said Rutte.
Such concerns were common sentiments among many council members and, as a result, Council Cable did not pass.
However, Michel maintained that the directive could have proven beneficial, stating that countries would still hold some level of autonomy in their media.
The directives come as Hungary and Poland, both European Union member states, experienced media censorship as a part of a trend called “democratic backsliding,” in which certain nations face a decline in democratic qualities.
This trend is a major concern for the European Council – something council members hope to be able to combat through increased accountability for free speech and media.
Ultimately, Michel still supports the directive, despite not achieving exactly what he envisioned.
“It definitely did impact [...] certain aspects of the media issue in a positive way, but [...] there were certain aspects that remained untouched,” said Michel.
Despite initial disputes on how to get there, both Frederiksen and Michel agreed that protecting the media from bias and censorship is vital.
“The whole point of democracy,” said Frederiksen, “is to have individual voices for all different people, regardless of whether or not it's leaders or citizens.”