A new era for media regulation in Europe as the European Media Freedom Act’s main obligations become applicable.

The Media Board and national regulators are ready to take on their new competencies  

August 8, 2025, marks a major milestone for media freedom in the European Union as the core provisions of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) officially enter into application. With the exception of measures related to users’ right to customise their media offering—scheduled for 2027—all key obligations under the EMFA are now applicable. This groundbreaking regulation strengthens the freedom, independence, and pluralism of media across the EU. 

The EMFA is a legislation aimed at defending democratic values by fostering the sustainability and visibility of trusted, editorially responsible media and news content. It comes at a time of growing polarisation and disinformation, including campaigns orchestrated from outside the Union that undermine European democracies and responds to the challenges and threats to media outlets and journalists, which are facing increasing political, legal and economic pressures.  

The EMFA aims to counter these trends through concrete and enforceable measures and the establishment of the Media Board, a new European independent advisory body gathering national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to coordinate their actions, exchange best practices for a consistent and effective application of the EMFA and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and to advise the European Commission on media regulation matters.  

Officially established on February 10, 2025, the Media Board is now ready to fully take on its new responsibilities under the EMFA in key areas such as the following: 

• To address the growing concentration of media ownership in Europe, the EMFA introduces a common framework for assessing media market concentrations from the perspective of the impact on editorial independence and media pluralism. The Media Board may issue an opinion where a media market concentration is likely to affect the internal market, after being consulted by the relevant NRA. Also, in the absence of an assessment or a consultation by the national authority, the Media Board may issue an opinion on the referred operation on its own initiative or when requested by the European Commission.
• When a Member State adopts a regulatory or administrative measure that could affect media pluralism and/or editorial independence and significantly impact the operation of media service providers in the internal market, the Media Board is entitled to draw up an opinion on the measure on its own initiative or upon a request from the European Commission. In addition, media services providers individually and directly affected by these measures can request an opinion to the Media Board.
• To prevent third countries from infiltrating the European media landscape for propaganda purposes, the Media Board is competent to coordinate relevant measures by national regulatory authorities related to the dissemination of or access to media services originating from outside of the Union that present a serious and grave risk to public security. The Media Board will adopt a set of criteria to help NRAs addressing these challenges in a coherent manner.
• For very large online platforms (VLOPs) as referenced in the Digital Services Act (DSA) - such as Meta, X, or LinkedIn-, the EMFA introduces specific safeguards for content published by independent and editorially responsible media services providers. If a declared media service provider considers that a platform has unfairly removed or suspended its content, both shall engage in a meaningful dialogue whose outcome may be notified to the Media Board, which is empowered to issue an opinion on it. 

Beyond the Media Board, the EMFA also includes obligations for: 

• Member States, to guarantee the editorial independence of media operating within their territory, ensure stable and adequate funding for public service media, and follow transparent procedures for appointing and dismissal of their management boards.
• Public authorities to share information about their spending on state advertising. Public funds for state advertising shall be awarded in accordance with transparent, objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria by Member States, which must seek to ensure that the overall yearly public expenditure for state advertising is distributed to a wide plurality of media service providers represented on the market.
• Media services providers to disclose their ownership structures and funding, helping to identify dominant players and limit covert influence and ownership. 
• Providers of audience measurement systems to ensure that their audience measurement systems and the methodology used by them comply with the principles of transparency, impartiality, inclusiveness, proportionality, non-discrimination, comparability and verifiability. 

For the EMFA to be effectively implemented, Member States must now ensure that their national legal frameworks are aligned with the provisions of the regulation and that national regulatory authorities are equipped with the necessary human, technical and financial resources and powers to fulfil their monitoring and coordination duties at the national level and within the Media Board. 
 

“The successful implementation of the EMFA will depend on our collective ability to turn its principles into effective regulatory practice. We have worked intensively to lay the groundwork for this transition. Now, we call on Member States to match this effort by ensuring that national authorities are properly resourced to meet their new responsibilities.” 

Carlos Aguilar, Chair of the Media Board

Learn more about the Media Board: Questions and Answers