Press release, Bratislava, December 7th, 2022
The Board of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA), the advisory body to the European Commission on media regulation, has confirmed the leading role of the Slovak Council for Media Services (CMS) in countering disinformation. At its December plenary meeting, ERGA decided that the Slovak regulator will continue to lead a working group focused on systemic tools against the spread of disinformation and on strengthening democracy in the digital sphere in 2023. CMS has held the position since 2019. "I see it as a testament to the quality of our work so far that our European partners have trusted us for the fourth year in a row to lead activities related to such an extremely socially urgent topic. In particular, the Council is expected to support the Commission in its monitoring activities related to the implementation of the Code of Practice on Disinformation. In addition, our international working group will also monitor issues related to the adoption of the regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising, which is expected to be adopted by the European Union next year," said Stanislav Matějka, Head of the Analytical Department of the CMS and the Council's expert on European affairs, who will personally lead the group.
The Council's Office will also be represented in two other ERGA working groups, whose terms of reference for the coming year were set by last week's plenary meeting. This development is in order with the new competences of the CMS defined in the Media Services Act that came into force in August 2022. Counlil Office will be involved in the sub-group on the implementation and enforcement of the European framework for audiovisual media services, with a particular focus on the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS), cross-border issues and related procedures, including the ERGA Memorandum of Understanding, which will now be chaired by the German national regulator. CMS will be represented on a working group whose main task is to monitor and contribute to the legislative debate on the European Union's media regulatory measures, with a particular focus on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which is led by the French regulator. Likewise, the Council's Office will also be involved in the Media Literacy Action Group and the Action Group whose agenda will be the internal governance, procedures and communication needs of ERGA.
The participants of the plenary meeting assessed 2022 as a very intense and challenging year and expect the coming year to be a crucial one for media services and national regulators. They underlined the crucial role of ERGA in this period and highlighted the importance of the European Media Services Council, which is expected to be established in the context of the aforementioned European Media Freedom Act. Negotiations on its final text are expected to take place in 2023, at the same time as the Digital Services Act (DSA) enters into force and the AVMS Directive, transposed in all Member States, becomes applicable. It will also be framed by the ongoing negotiations on the draft regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising, as well as the implementation of a strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation. The plenary decided by a vote that Giacomo Lasorella, chairman of the Italian national regulator AGCOM, will lead the ERGA for the next year: "The European Commission has launched an unprecedented review of legislation to meet the challenge of digital transformation in the media sphere. The effective implementation of the newly adopted instruments and the swift adoption of the proposed legislation require cooperation between national regulators within ERGA to achieve common solutions in a truly European perspective."