Jourova on Poland's media law: it will be a very big blow to media plurality

"When we look at this concrete law, it goes against one TV (station) which has a very big share on the market, and if it disappears, it will be a very big blow to media plurality in Poland. And that’s why we raised concerns. It’s not so usual that we are reacting before the final touch of the Polish legislator, which in this case is president Duda. We are still waiting for his decision, and I already heard in the past that he himself had some doubts," Jourova said.

Asked about EU's potential steps with regards to the issue, she said: "Sorry that I won’t be very creative, but again our main instrument is to launch the process, the procedure which will be based on the legal conviction of the Commission that this law is not compliant with the EU law". "In this case it will probably be the right of the establishment because we are a free market and we should enable entities to do business freely in Europe. So, I don’t want to predict that we will launch the infringement procedure, but we have to wait for the final decision of the president," she added.

"The second thing, we see the media situation worsening in many member states, not only in Poland. That’s why I already announced that I will propose the new law, the so-called media freedom act, which should look also at the rules under which the media can do their business in Europe. The law will address the existing problems which we see already now, for instance some restrictions against media which are not proportionate," Vera Jourova argued.

"I don’t understand much of the reasoning behind it (Poland's new media law), and the geopolitical aspect. Because I fully understand Polish people and Polish government even, when I hear the big threat for Poland nowadays is Russia. And we see what is happening on the eastern border. This specific law should enable Poland to defend the media market from, for instance, Russian media. And we can do it in a different way. We can apply the rules on the basis of threatening the security, and not by the law which, in my opinion illlogically, turns against the ally, against the TV which is established by the U.S. entity. I don’t understand it bacause in the time of crisis, and we are in deep crisis, we should try to keep stronger ties with the allies and partners. And I guess for Poland, it has always been a strong traditional partner – I mean the United States. I have to say I don’t understand this logic," the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova stressed.

Unexpectedly rushed through parliament on Friday (Dec. 17), the legislation would tighten rules around foreign ownership of media, specifically affecting the ability of news channel TVN24, owned by U.S. media company Discovery Inc, to operate.

Poland's prime minister said on Wednesday he is not worried that a media law affecting a Discovery-owned news channel will have a bad effect on relations with the United States.

"I do not have such concerns, because... we are creating a system that is comparable to what is in Germany, France or Austria," Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.