First EU infringement procedure under Media Freedom Act is against Orbán’s Hungary

Brussels – Four months after
the entry into force of most of the regulations in the new European Media Freedom Act, the European Commission strikes a first blow. The target is the “usual suspect”, Viktor Orbán. The infringement procedure launched today against Budapest is a warning—a few months before the elections—to the Hungarian electoral autocracy, as the European Parliament called it recently. 

The letter of formal notice sent to Budapest is peremptory. It decrees the “non-compliance with several provisions of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and some requirements of the audiovisual media services directive (AVMSD).” In particular, Brussels considers that Hungary does not comply with the rules on interference in the work of journalists and the media in the country, “restricting their economic activities and editorial freedom.” Moreover, Hungarian legislation would not offer “adequate protection of journalistic sources and confidential communications, nor effective judicial protection in case of violation of these rights.” 

Budapest fails across the board: it does not comply with requirements regarding public service media, transparency of media ownership, the assessment of media market concentrations, and the allocation of state advertising. Finally, Hungary also “violates certain requirements for national media regulators under the AVMSD.”

 The Hungarian government now has two months to respond to the critical issues raised. After that, the risk is that the Commission will issue a reasoned opinion, the precursor to referral to the EU Court of Justice and potential economic sanctions. An initial response—not very conciliatory, to put it mildly—came from the prime minister’s spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, who lashed out at the European Commission from his X account. “It is unbelievable,” he wrote in a post, “Brussels is initiating another case against Hungary, on so-called media freedom. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, opposition MPs are imprisoned and prevented from travelling, opposition media are censored or shut down, and billions of euros are being siphoned off from European citizens by the Brussels-Ukrainian war mafia.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the infringement procedure launched today is not only a warning to a country that will be going to the polls in the spring, but also to others among the 27. Poland, Greece, and Italy itself have so far done little to transpose the Media Freedom Act and risk ending up under Brussels’ magnifying glass. According to Sandro Ruotolo, MEP for the Democratic Party, the European Commission’s move is “a very clear political signal.” That is, “Europe will no longer tolerate violations of press freedom and media independence.” 

For the dem MEP, “today it is Budapest’s turn, but Italy cannot feel safe.” According to the annual report of the European University Institute’s Centre for Pluralism and Media Freedom, the Boot is considered a “medium-high risk” country: from the lack of protection against espionage against journalists and editorial staff, to the system of appointments to the RAI Board of Directors, violations of the new European law have existed for some time.