madam president it is surely not a coincidence that last week the british conservatives won the support of rupert murdoch and yesterday they voted to suppress this debate on press freedom
while the new ex-communist member states have made great progress towards a free press the media domination enjoyed by silvio berlusconi would have made erich honecker green with envy
but the threats intimidation and abuse that berlusconi is directing not only at the press but also at the president and judges go far beyond a purely national issue this is a major european concern
commissioner reding very strangely said that we should not use the eu institutions to solve national problems
so why do we have any european treaties and laws including those on the requirement of fundamental rights and the rule of law
there is in fact a clear legal competence for the eu to act to uphold freedom of expression and fundamental rights in general
that legal basis exists and must be complemented by legislation on media diversity and pluralism
the passivity of the commissioner is deeply disappointing
