MEPs demand more ‘powers to intervene’ against states with uninvited Europol corruption investigations during a webinar on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.
Speaking during the event, MEP David Casa also announced that the European Commission will present its first anti-SLAPP proposals soon. He said he spoke to European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, who confirmed that “in the coming day, the Commission’s first anti-SLAPP proposals [will be presented] and we will start working on them as soon as possible”.
The webinar brought together three MEPs and journalists whose lives and work were under threat. MEPs David Casa (EPP), Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA) and Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew) interviewed, respectively, Italian journalist living under protection Federica Angeli, Veronica Munk – co-editor-in-chief of telex.hu – and Bulgarian journalist Nikolay Straykov.
MEP in’t Veld criticised the European Commission for its reluctance to go against member states’ governments to protect journalists. “The Commission is always arguing that national governments are responsible to protect journalists,” she said. However, she insisted that other tactics, such as threatening to cut off funding, could be used.
“We need to put more pressure on the Commission to actually use the tools that we have, even if that means going against a national government,” she said
“They can no longer be living in a space of impunity because of the Commission’s reluctance to go against national governments,” she added.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
