The European Board for Media Services - hereafter the Media Board - as established by the European Media Freedom Act (2024), is an independent advisory body at the European Union level composed of national regulatory authorities and bodies (NRAs) of the media and audiovisual sector. It builds upon and replaces the European Regulators' Group for Audiovisual Media Services, which was created in 2014.
The remit of the Media Board continues to cover audiovisual matters and will be further extended to broader horizontal media matters, including the radio and the press (although this does not entail direct regulatory oversight of the press) as well as to online platforms as key players of the media ecosystem.
The Media Board aims at fostering a European regulatory framework allowing a free, pluralistic, trusted and competitive European media ecosystem that reflects cultural diversity, while guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights and empowering European citizens to forge informed opinions and participate effectively in the social and democratic debate.
As ERGA did, the Media Board will continue promoting the consistent implementation of the AVMSD, specially in critical areas such as the protection of minors, advertising, promotion of European content, prominence of general interest services and media literacy to better equip and empower media audiences to navigate in the informational space.
In addition to these responsibilities, the Media Board has been entrusted with a number of new competences by EMFA, among others to providing opinions on a number of issues including:
- market concentrations and national measures likely to significantly affect media pluralism and/ or editorial independence of media service providers operating in the internal market;
- common measures to protect the internal market from non-EU media providers that pose threats to public security;
- outcomes of structured dialogues between Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and media service providers concerning restrictions or suspensions of their content based on terms of service of VLOPs.
Also, the Media Board will be promoting cooperation between its members and engaging with media stakeholders, while providing expertise and assistance to the Commission on matters related both to EMFA and the AVMSD.
Both the Media Board and its members operate independently from any political or economic influence, and neither seek nor take instructions from any government, institution, whether national, supranational or international, or any public or private person or body.
The Media Board has elected the following leadership for 2025:
Chair Carlos Aguilar Paredes - CNMC/ES, Vice-Chair Amma Asante - CvdM/NL