The European Parliament elections and selection of a new European Commission in June 2024 are an opportunity for the European Union (EU) to reaffirm its commitments to promote the right to freedom of expression and access to information. Ahead of this important milestone, ARTICLE 19 shares its recommendations on the key priorities for the incoming Commission’s mandate.
ARTICLE 19 believes that the incoming European Commission should not miss the opportunity to reaffirm its leadership in promoting freedom of expression and access to information, and should strive for our vision of a European Union where the information environment is open, decentralised, fair, diverse, and inclusive. This will require consistent multi-stakeholder engagement, including with civil society organisations and research institutions, to fully and effectively implement legislation passed in the last 5 years.
ARTICLE 19 sets out four key priorities for the 2024-2029 European Commission:
- The EU creates the conditions for an open, fair, pluralistic, and decentralised communication environment with a focus on the full and effective implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Artificial Intelligence Act (the AI Act), the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and the Anti-SLAPPs Directive.
- The EU embeds human rights throughout the technology stack, the mainstay of the information ecosystem, and considers the human rights implications of infrastructure technologies.
- The EU builds on last year’s progress by promoting increased transparency and public access to information before EU institutions.
- The EU is a strong advocate for all these goals in international fora, contributing to the establishment and support of an open, diverse, and resilient information ecosystem worldwide.
Meaningful participation of civil society and other stakeholders is key to the new European Commission’s achievement of all of these goals. We look forward to engaging with the institution to make sure our voice is heard.