The far right wants to get its hands on culture in Brussels. And the interest is not insignificant, given that this area also includes delicate decisions on freedom of the press and media independence. The group “Patriots of Europe”, founded in this legislature by Hungarian President Viktor Orban and led by Frenchman Jordan Bardella of the Rassemblement National, has aimed for the presidency of the Culture Commission. The Lega is also part of this family, having obtained the vice-presidency with Roberto Vannacci.
The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23, and the MEPs of the “von der Leyen majority” (popular, socialist and liberal, together with the greens) have already formed a block to prevent the far right from accessing these top positions, but surprises are inevitable. In Italy, the issue of the independence of journalists and the media is particularly topical, given the numerous controversies connected to TeleMeloni and the interference of the government led by Giorgia Meloni on public television information, but not only.
Media independence at risk
The law that raises the most concern is the European Media Freedom Act, the set of measures designed to ensure the independence of the media in Europe. In the last legislature it was the most important dossier dealt with by the Culture Committee, this mandate will be partly dedicated to the implementation and monitoring of the rules introduced. The alarm was raised by the International Federation of Journalists. “Allowing the Patriots to chair this crucial group would be to send the message that it is acceptable to undermine the principles of media freedom,” Pamela Morinière, head of communications for the Federation, told Euronews.
Parties divide up parliamentary committees (but right-wing remains excluded)
The commission will also review the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which aims to monitor broadcast content by setting a series of limitations in the public interest. The rule ranges from limiting content deemed harmful to children to advertising, for example to prevent those that are misleading to consumers.
Other cultural dossiers
MEPs in charge of culture are traditionally involved in the review of the Erasmus+ budget, thanks to which students can study and work in different Member States, and of the cultural funding programmes (Creative Europe). They oversee the Lux Prize, linked to the Lux Audience Awards (voted by the public), two film awards that recognise films on themes of social commitment, such as the protection of human rights, the reduction of economic inequalities and the protection of the environment. Other reports produced by the committee concern education, as well as the identity elements of the European population.
In this case there is room for lively clashes between a vision that reduces Europe to a compact block born of monolithic Christian-Judaic traditions, and alternative visions that are more multifaceted and complex and that look at the evolution of European citizenship, welcoming its new demands and characteristics. According to the European Youth Forum, all these programs (and the related funds) help to develop a culture of greater tolerance. Leaving the commission in the hands of Eurosceptics would be a serious mistake, they commented.
The role of the president and the numbers of the commission
The position of president of the Culture Committee, like the others, has a symbolic but also practical significance. The person elected represents the position to other European institutions, as well as in meetings of MEPs abroad; then there are the more organizational commitments, which also include the management of debates and the possibility of access or not of journalists to meetings. And it is up to him to resolve disputes on dossiers that require shared competences between various committees.
The Greens are aiming for a reconfirmation for the presidency, nominating Nela Riehl, a German MEP from the Volt party. Technically, she would have the majority (EPP, S&D, Renew) in her favor, along with the ecologists. They would have 19 MEPs out of 30, but the Greens are not structurally part of the “Ursula 2.0” majority and have only two members. Forza Italia (EPP) has already made it known that it will not vote for the Greens’ presidents for the parliamentary committees. Vannacci’s Patriots have 4 MEPs, to which could be added those of Reformists and Conservatives (3) and Europe of Nations (2). However, since it is a meeting between a few members, where there are often abstentions as FI might decide to do, a coup by the far right is not excluded.
