European Media Freedom Act
Dear European Economic and Social Committee,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
a list of meetings EESC members and/or their assistants and advisers as well as the relevant staff with organisations representing the rights and interests of publishers and media, in which the European Media Freedom Act were dealt with (between September 2021 and today);
minutes and other reports of these meetings;
all correspondence (including emails) between EESC members and/or their assistants and advisers as well as the relevant staff with organisations representing the rights and interests of publishers and media, in which the European Media Freedom Act was dealt with (between September 2021 and today).
Yours faithfully,
EU DisinfoLab
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your e-mail and interest in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
We hereby acknowledge receipt of your application for access to documents, which was registered on 13/04/2023 under reference n° ICD-AD-04/2023.
All requests for public access to documents are treated in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents and the relevant Decision of the European Economic and Social Committee No 2003/603/EC of 1 July 2003 on public access to European Economic and Social Committee documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned rules, your application will be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
The European Economic and Social Committee reserves the right to ask for additional information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Economic and Social Committee's Decision.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially related to the European Economic and Social Committee. Therefore, the latter cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to the use of this system.
Yours sincerely,
The Information Centre and Document Management Sector
Dear Sir/Madam,
We refer to your request for access to documents mentioned above.
It is currently being handled. However, due to the complexity of the process, we will not be in a position to finalize the reply within the given time limit.
We are therefore obliged to extend the deadline by a further 15 working days, in accordance with article 8 of Decision 2003/603/EC regarding public access to EESC documents.
We apologize for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
The Information Centre and Document Management Sector
Dear Sir/Madam,
We refer to your request for access to the Economic and Social Committee's (EESC) documents registered on 13/04/2023 under reference n° ICD-AD-04/2023.
Please be informed that the EESC has no record of meetings with organisations representing the rights and interests of publishers and media having taken place in the phase of the preparation of the EESC opinion on the European Media Freedom Act, adopted in December 2022. Due to a short timeframe for the elaboration of the opinion, there was no time for a proper consultation process with individual stakeholders.
In view of the above, the secretariat compiled a document that provides links to the official position of more than 40 representative stakeholders, who replied to the European Commission consultation on the European Media Freedom Act. Please find attached the said document.
Beyond this, the EESC's rapporteur, Mr Christian Moos, had in the phase of preparation of the EESC opinion on the European Media Freedom Act, bilateral contacts with two stakeholder representatives, one on behalf of the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) and the European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) and the other on behalf of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
With this reply, the European Economic and Social Committee considers your application as handled and the file closed.
Should you have any new requests for specific documents, please do not hesitate to come back to us.
Yours sincerely,
The Information Centre and Document Management Sector