Italy's Media Ownership - A Challenge to the European Constitutional Architecture

VIENNA, 12 March 2002 - Special attention should be paid to media freedom and the independence of the media in the discussion on a European Constitution, stressed Freimut Duve, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, in an appeal to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Chairman of the Convention on the future of the European Union (EU). He pointed out that in Italy, a founding member of the EU, the present political leadership is not following the constitutional tradition of Europe. Especially the pluralism of the broadcasting media was in jeopardy because of an ownership situation that allowed the executive to control both public and private broadcasting media, Duve noted in his appeal.

Duve underlined that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights reaffirmed in its preamble "the rights as they result, in particular, from the constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the Member States" In Article 11, the Charter confirms everyone's right to freedom of expression. Duve appealed to the members of the Convention to ensure the binding force of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. He is convinced that a strong Charter would be seen as a code of conduct by EU Member States and an important signal for the OSCE participating States, in some of which the executive still controls the media.

The OSCE Representative would very much regret if Italy was to become the first case to go through the procedures of the new Article 7 of the Nice Treaty which can go as far as to allow for the suspension of voting rights of that Member State once the treaty goes into effect.

Note to editors: Article 7 of the Nice Treaty deals with clear risks of a serious breach by a EU Member State of principles mentioned in Article 6 (1) which states that "The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States." EU treaties can be found on the homepage of the Commission of the EU: http://europa.eu.int.