This Opinion welcomes the European Media Freedom Act and all the related EU initiatives aiming to address the worrying developments in the area of media freedom over the last years. The Opinion entails a number of recommendations concerning editorial and journalists' independence; the need for financial resources to ensure independence of public media; transparency in the allocation of State advertising; transparency of media ownership. The Opinion also calls for measures to ensure the independence of national regulatory bodies, especially in the context of the future European board for media services. It also considers that EU anti-concentration law should be used where national regulators fail to address media market concentration.
Download — Dictamen del CESE: European Media Freedom Act
The exploratory opinion will look into EU competitiveness and the regulatory impacts of Union legislation on EU's businesses. The EU must decrease its strategic dependency and ensure its higher resilience, as well as openness to the outside world and competitiveness of its businesses. According to the Czech Presidency priorities, the Single Market serves as the EU's greatest asset in order to fulfil these targets.
Download — Dictamen del CESE: A competitiveness check to build a stronger and more resilient EU economy
EU companies rely excessively on banking financing and are highly indebted. This own-initiative opinion proposes the development of a highly subordinated instrument at EU level that boosts the recapitalisation of EU firms. This would be a secure and easy-to-implement solution for SMEs, that would improve their financial position and promote investment without increasing leverage.
Download — Dictamen del CESE: Recapitalising EU companies – An innovative way towards sustained and inclusive recovery
The objective of the own-initiative opinion is to provide EESC's input into the discussions and future actions in regard to emergency preparedness, especially focusing on the impact on businesses.
Download — Dictamen del CESE: Emergency preparedness
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" (SLAPPs) are a particular form of harassment used against journalists, rights defenders and others who are involved in protecting the public interest. Typically, they are meritless lawsuits lodged by powerful individuals or entities against a weaker party who expresses a critical position on a matter of public interest. Through this Opinion, the EESC welcomes the European Commission initiative – a proposed Directive and a Recommendation – aiming to tackle this growing phenomenon. The EESC also proposes to go beyond the current scope of the initiative, notably through a stronger focus on national aspects, and recommendations on aspects like preliminary rulings or training.
Download — Dictamen del CESE: Initiative against abusive litigation targeting journalists and rights defenders
