Hungary: Proposed amendments to media law

Corresponding drafts have been received, confirmed a Commission spokesperson in Brussels on Thursday, according to SDA. It will now be carefully checked whether the amendments comply with all aspects of EU legislation. Following a meeting at expert level, the Hungarian authorities announced at the beginning of the week that they would be submitting corresponding proposals for amendments by Thursday.

Among other things, the EU had criticized the requirement for all possible publications to report in a balanced manner. The Commission also considers the registration requirement for foreign media to be non-compliant with EU legislation.

However, Brussels had no legal objections to the controversial Media Council. The spokesperson did not provide any information on when the examination of the proposed amendments is expected to be completed. In Hungary, the newspaper Nepszabadsag had launched a constitutional complaint against the controversial media law. (SDA)