Independent and free media

Question for written answer E-003121/2022
to the Commission
Rule 138
Loucas Fourlas (PPE)

In its Rule of Law Report published on 13 July 2022[1] the Commission maintains that 'independent and free media are the watchdogs of democracy. A free and pluralistic media environment is instrumental to defending the rule of law by holding power and institutions to account. ... Conflict of interests and a highly concentrated market dominated by only a few players might also have the effect of undermining freedom of the media.' Many reports, from throughout the EU and elsewhere, show that both the media and the platforms used to access them are undergoing increasing concentration, leading to the dominance of a small number of players.

• 1.Does the Commission plan to acknowledge the resulting harm to democracy and investigate potential violations of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in order to prevent this harm and defend the EU from it?
• 2.Does it intend to consider democracy as one of the main objectives of its competition law and policy, given that democracy is cited as a fundamental value in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union?

• [1] COM(2022)0500.