European Commission ‘Confused and Contradictory’ on Media Crisis, Says EFJ

Today the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), accused the European Commission of confusion and contradiction in its response to Europe's media crisis.

 The European Federation of Journalists says a statement by competition Commissioner Nelly Kroes calling on Sweden to reduce its support to the crisis-hit press sector flatly contradicts the opinion of EC President José-Manuel Barroso who recently told the European Federation of Journalists that the economic problems overwhelming much of the European press required public intervention.

"There is a muddle of confusion and contradiction in Brussels and lack of coherent vision about the media crisis, "said Arne König, the President of the EFJ. "The decision of Nelly Kroes against support for the local press in Sweden shows a lack of vision and contradicts President Barroso."

Yesterday the EC Commissioner for competition Nelly Kroes called on Sweden to reduce the funding it provides to papers in large towns, claiming that they breach EU rules on state aid and create undue market distortions.

"Specifically, Brussels wants a gradual reduction in the maximum aid provided to large newspapers in the big cities, and for what aid it does provide to be for a limited time only", she declared.

This approach is in stark contrast to the assurance given on 27 May to European Federation of Journalists leaders by President Barroso who in a letter to the EFJ wrote: "The social and economic consequences of the (media) financial crisis call for political responses. Regulation and public intervention are becoming increasingly necessary in several sectors".

Although he cautioned that "urgent state intervention, and regulation cannot respond to all challenges of the media sector", he was clear that "the issue of public intervention is important".

Sweden traditionally supports the second-biggest paper in a city or town with state subsidies in order to assure political and media pluralism. The Swedish government can now either agree with the decision of the Commission or put forward counterproposal for the consideration of the Commission.

Agneta Lindblom Hulthén, the chairwoman of the EFJ affiliate, the Swedish Union of Journalists, declared that "far from supporting smaller newspapers, the European Commission's perspective threatens their existence. This is a question of national democracy and the possibility to uphold pluralism. The European Commission should not intervene in this issue".

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The EFJ represents over  250,000 journalists in more than 30 countries of Europe