mr president as expressed by martin schulz just now from the perspective of the socialist and democrat group this is a debate which is not just about italy
i too am not an italian speaker
our group feels that media pluralism is not just an italian issue
all member states are involved and all member states of the european union should guarantee these principles of media pluralism
this house has long been asking the commission to take action to guarantee pluralism of the media
the commission is committed to putting into place a three-step approach to define the indicators of pluralism including a working document an independent study and a communication
commissioner reding has not mentioned that two of these steps have already been taken
within our group we are waiting impatiently for the third step a communication on pluralism and for a set of legislative measures capable of guaranteeing this principle across the union across the whole of the union and not just in italy
indeed our perspective is based on the fact that the european union has not only been an economic and monetary union or a loose coalition of member states but a collection of values also
it is incredibly important in this debate to restate that perspective
one of these rights freedom of information defined by the eu charter as the right to receive and communicate information without interference from public authorities is vital
for italy and the particular position expressed by david sassoli from my group this is a genuine concern but the wider concern for the european union is a challenge for our group for all members including those members from italy
this is an unprecedented situation in italy but it could be a dangerous situation for the whole of the european union and that is the perspective of our group
