17th ERGA plenary meeting: European media regulators prepare for major upcoming legislative projects

*Arcom summons attention to the ERGA Presidency press release (in English and French)*.

On June 21, the 17th ERGA plenary was held in Brussels for the first face-to-face meeting in two years. Members met to take stock of ERGA's ongoing work, in the context of a crucial legislative year for the media in Europe. They exchanged views with the European Commission on several projects, including the European Media Freedom Act and the recently revised Code of Practice against disinformation.

The Code of Practice against misinformation aims to limit the spread of online misinformation by requiring platforms to be more transparent about their activities, reducing the monetization of misinformation, and strengthening the tools available to users to inform themselves about problematic content. ERGA is delighted that the majority of its notices have been taken on board in the final version of the Code, and is pleased that it includes a series of clear commitments in key areas, including advertising placements on platforms, political advertising, service integrity, strengthening users, research and fact-checking.

ERGA particularly welcomes the establishment of a permanent working group whose mission will be to adapt the Code for the future. As a member of this future working group, ERGA will play an important role in providing the expertise of its members to the European Commission and the Code's signatories.

At this plenary meeting, members also discussed the forthcoming adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA), its interaction with the Code of Practice against misinformation and other legislation such as the Digital Market Acts (DMA), the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS) and the future regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising. Indeed, as the ERGA has already emphasized, independent supervision, an active role for media regulators, better cooperation between them within the ERGA and with the Commission on the issue of very large platforms, are all key factors in ensuring the success of the DSA.

Special attention was paid to work in the field of disinformation and, in particular, to disinformation narratives linked to the war in Ukraine. Members also took stock of ERGA's position on the draft regulation on transparency and targeting in political advertising.

Another top priority was the preparation of the future European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The Commission presented its intentions for this legislative project, designed to strengthen the freedom, independence and plurality of the media, as well as the project's next steps. In this manager, the issue of media under the influence or control of third countries was widely debated. The question of ERGA's future role and structure was also addressed, with a view to anticipating possible future missions in conjunction with DSA and EMFA. The members supported a strengthening of ERGA's role.

Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, stressed the importance of the role of ERGA's permanent task force in monitoring the Code of Practice against disinformation. She also stressed the importance of ERGA in the EMFA manager: " ERGA needs a strong role for this important project ", she insisted.

Finally, ERGA underlined the ambition of this new European regulation, which, for its implementation, summons the allocation of greater resources to the European Regulators Group and to each of its members. Only a few members indicated that they had received additional means to implement the revised AVMS Directive on their territory, at a time when the adoption of the DSA, the EMFA and the strengthening of the Code of Practice against misinformation will place even greater responsibilities and new challenges on regulators.

"There is a crucial need to strengthen ERGA's independence and provide it with appropriate resources, as well as to increase the human and financial resources of its members at national level", concludes ERGA Chairman Karim Ibourki.

Find out more about the Code of Practice against misinformation :

2022 Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation | Shaping Europe's digital future (europa.eu)

2018 Code of Practice on Disinformation | Shaping Europe's digital future (europa.eu)

Browse the original press release here

About Arcom :
Arcom is an independent public authority guaranteeing freedom of communication. Its mission is to ensure that the public has access to a plurality of audiovisual supplies that respect rights and freedoms, to defend creation and to contribute to the fight agains unlawful and problematic content on the Internet.

About ERGA :
The European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) is composed of the national regulatory authorities in the field of audiovisual media services. ERGA advises the European Commission and facilitates cooperation between regulatory bodies in the EU. Mr. Karim Ibourki, President of the Belgian French Superior Audiovisual Council (French Superior Audiovisual Council), is the current Chairman of ERGA.