Today, CMPF Director Pier Luigi Parcu delivered the keynote speech at a conference organised by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, sharing academic insights into the role of National Regulatory Authorities in the enforcement of media policy.
The main question addressed was whether National Regulatory Authorities are well-equipped to take on their new role. Some observations from Professor Parcu’s presentation:
- the main challenges that the Member States and the EU will have to address to ensure the well-functioning of the new regulatory framework are essentially two: enforcement and oversight. Potential issues could relate to the powers, structure, and independence of NRAs.
- the Digital Services Act cuts across several areas, and the question arises whether existing National Regulatory Authorities are equipped and fit for the task, or whether the need will arise to create a new agency.
- can we afford to take the independence of National Regulatory Authorities for granted? Data from the Media Pluralism Monitor show an average low risk for NRAs’ independence. However, it is essential to lay down in law transparent procedures for the appointment of NRAs’ Heads and collegiate bodies.
- looking at the issue of coordination between NRAs at the national level, the main question is who is going to play the role of the European Union in terms of financing and organisation. If this role will be taken by National Governments, how can we still safeguard the authorities’ independence?
The concluding observations focused on the new expertise and human resources that will be required to fulfil the new tasks allocated to the NRAs.
National Regulatory Authorities will need to hire Data Scientists and experts, as well as create a digital structure capable of analysing the data received and the algorithms used by the media providers in the market.