Not only the delays on the report denouncing the worsening of press freedom in Italy. Already at the beginning of June the EU commission led by Ursula Von Der Leyen had tried to hide its own members’ criticisms of the Meloni government. To reveal it is Politic, the newspaper that published Clothilde Goujard’s scoop on the report that was removed from the agenda. The previous one dates back to June 4th and the declarations of Věra Jourováthe main EU official for the rule of law: during a press briefing, the Czech politician and Von Der Leyen’s deputy had in fact stated that she was following closely “negative trends” on media freedom “in Italy and Slovakia”. However, Von Der Leyen did not like the statement, so much so that Politico stated that he had been contacted by the spokesperson of the European Commission Christian Wigand to defuse the statements: “The interpretation of the words in this article goes too far,” they asked to put in writing. “It’s not about identifying any country. We monitor the situation in Italy as we do in all EU Member States in the context of the annual rule of law report. This is what Jourová was referring to.”
The precedent, which occurred just on the eve of the EU elections, confirms the pressures inside and outside the commission to avoid falling out with the Italian Prime Minister before the vote for the second mandate of Von Der Leyen. The consortium expresses great concern about the political maneuvers Media Freedom Rapid Response who, in mid-May, came to Italy to raise the alert on the state of freedom of information in the country. “We are cautious about what he wrote Politic because if it were true it would be very serious,” he declared to ilfattoquotidiano.it Renate Schroederdirector of European Federation of Journalists. “We demand that the rule of law report be published, this is the most important thing.” And again: “We do not negotiate with the fundamental rights enshrined in the EU treaty. The European Parliament has completely failed Orban. And now together with Von Der Leyen they shouldn’t make the same mistake with Meloni or others.” Then he closed: “We are very worried for this historical moment and we ask that Von Der Leyen remains consistent with the values of the EU. Because freedom of the press is one of the pillars.” The European Federation of Journalists reiterated that it will “closely follow developments in Italy”, as well as “the crackdown on media freedom”, “the Rai journalists’ strike” and “increasing reports of journalists being targeted”: “This must be treated with the utmost seriousness at national and EU level“.
Me too’Balkans Caucasus Transeuropa Observatory, part of the consortium for monitoring press freedom, has lined up to ask for the “publication in good time of the report on the rule of law which highlights the erosion of media freedom in Italy. Potential delays due to alleged political reasons are worrying”, they wrote on X. “We urge the authorities to reform the legislation on public broadcasters”, namely Rai, “in line withEuropean Media Freedom Act“, “to review defamation laws to bring them into line with international standards”, “to ensure that any takeover bid for AGI is subjected to a thorough and transparent assessment of media pluralism, editorial independence and conflict of interest”. Shortly before he had also spoken there National press federation in Italy: “According to Politico, the state of press freedom in Italy has become an object of exchange for support for the next EU Commission,” the president wrote on Vittorio Di Trapani. “I hope that an urgent and credible denial arrives. And may the entire new European Parliament be vigilant about this risk.”
Already a year ago, the same report on the rule of law in Italy had expressed “concern about the political independence of the media in Italy“ and this “in the absence of an effective law that regulates conflict of interests”: “Although the issue remains central in the country”, the text read, “the reform projects are in fact still pending in Parliament. And although major newspapers are not directly or indirectly owned by politicians or parties, the editorial lines reflect the strong polarization of the political scene. For this reason, the Commission’s focus on pluralism evaluates political independence and editorial autonomy at medium risk”. Meanwhile, Italy has been downgraded by five places in the press freedom ranking Reporters Without Borders and this, combined with the dozens of reports and alerts received from associations that monitor the state of the media, gives no hope of any improvement. And delaying its publication for political reasons can only aggravate the situation.
