A new draft media law voted on in the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday (30 August) could see the country take a step towards fulfilling conditions set out by Brussels for EU accession.
The draft law, ‘On Media’, passed with 233 votes in favour in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, in the first re-reading following revisions.
The bill was proposed by President Zelenskyy in November 2019 and was introduced to parliament later that year. In addition to regulating online media and major platforms, the bill also seeks to expand the power of the country’s media regulator, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting.
Media reform, particularly the alignment of Ukraine’s regulations with those of the EU, was one of the provisions included in Brussels’ recommendation of EU candidate status for the country earlier this summer.
However, throughout its drafting process the law has attracted criticism from press organisations within and beyond Ukraine for the potential power over the media that it would hand the government.
The vote on Tuesday saw a majority of lawmakers support the bill’s passage, following additions to the draft made by deputies in July. The changes, Ukraine’s Detector Media reports, mostly relate to the war but also clarify the definition of the “online media” that the legislation will cover.
The media reform process began with a decree signed by Zelenskyy in 2019, calling for the introduction of legislation to kickstart the process. The move, however, was met with opposition from Ukrainian journalists, many of whom expressed unease with the potential inclusion of defined “news standards”.
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International media organisations have since voiced their concern over certain elements of the ensuing legislation.
In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged that the bill be rewritten, arguing that its expansion of the media regulator’s powers would threaten press freedom and that, while reform was needed, the law in its current state would instead mark a departure from EU standards.
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an association of journalists’ trade unions, also called for a revision of the draft text, saying it was joining the calls of its Ukrainian affiliate organisations, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine.
“NUJU calls on the Ukrainian authorities to withdraw this bill and to draft a specific bill for the regulation of audiovisual media, in line with the EU directives”, said the organisation’s President, Sergiy Tomilenko.
“We are ready to dialogue with the authorities to draft a new media law in line with European legal standards.”
A group of Ukrainian media NGOs issued a similar call last month, urging the government to consult transparently with media professionals and organisations to formulate the law.
Improving Ukraine’s media landscape was one of the points set out by the European Commission in June in an opinion on the country’s EU membership application.
A Commission spokesperson told EURACTIV that, while media freedom had improved significantly in recent years, especially thanks to online media, and a good balance is being struck between preservation of the media and measures to combat disinformation, issues such as the influence of oligarchs in the sector remain.
Brussels also singled out the pending legislation, noting that alignment with its own audiovisual media law had yet to be completed, particularly regarding the media regulator’s role, media ownership transparency and ensuring equal market conditions.
“We welcome the plans to proceed with the new draft law ‘On Media’ in the Ukrainian parliament following today’s first reading vote,” the Commission representative added. “This is an important step on Ukraine’s path towards the EU and to address one of the priority reforms identified in the Commission’s Opinion on Ukraine’s EU membership application.”
“The law needs to ensure a competitive media market with clear rules for all, an independent regulator and alignment with EU Audio-Visual Media Services Directive,” the EU official continued. “The Commission will assess the draft voted in the first reading and make further recommendations to Ukraine to ensure its alignment with EU legislation.”
The draft law will now reportedly be considered for a second reading by Ukrainian lawmakers within the next three weeks.
[Edited by Luca Bertuzzi/Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
