Reacting to the debate on freedom of expression in Italy held today in the European Parliament, ELDR President Annemie Neyts commented: “Freedom of expression and the press is one of the fundamental pillars of liberal democracy.

 

“Liberals fight worldwide for the values of pluralism, so we have to guarantee these rights also inside the European Union” “It’s the first time – she continued - that a national issue becomes a European issue. Never before the EU triggered a debate on such a specific topic”.

The future scenario could be a sentence to the Italian government for the attempt to limit media pluralism and potentially new legal proceedings against the Italy. Direct threats to the freedom of expression within the European Union limit the credibility of the EU to criticize non-EU countries for censorship.

ELDR member parties and their MEPs of Italia dei Valori and Radicali Italiani have always been fervent defenders of an open debate and criticized the accumulation of media power in Italy.

Italy is the only western democracy where the prime minister exercises direct control over three TV channels he owns, and has indirect control over three public channels as well as owning several newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and the largest publishing house in the country.