NORMATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN MEDIA FREEDOM ACT

Abstract

The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) constitutes the first binding EU legal framework systematically dedicated to the protection of media freedom and media pluralism. It was adopted after a long period in which EU media regulation remained fragmented: audiovisual services were regulated mainly through the AVMSD, while major online intermediaries were addressed through the DSA/DMA framework. The EMFA shifts the focus from isolated sector rules to a common set of directly applicable standards that target the conditions in which media operate in the internal market.

The paper first explains this regulatory background and the reasons why a single EU regulation became politically and legally plausible. It then offers a normative analysis of the EMFA’s main chapters, with attention to editorial independence, safeguards for journalists and sources, public service media standards, the new framework for regulatory cooperation, rules relevant for media market concentration, and the legal relationship between media service providers and VLOPs (very large online platforms).

The analysis suggests that the EMFA introduces a new governance architecture and strengthens procedural guarantees at EU level, mainly through common standards and coordinated regulatory work. At the same time, many mechanisms still depend on national institutional arrangements and on the manner in which Member States apply and enforce the new rules. For that reason, the EMFA should be read as an important normative step, but not as a self-executing solution: its impact will largely be determined by implementation practice.