The European Commission (EC) has raised press freedom concerns after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government was accused of interfering with Italian public broadcaster Rai and silencing critical voices.

Věra Jourová, the European Commission vice-president overseeing values and transparency, warned of a funding squeeze and alleged “intimidation” of journalists after unveiling an annual report on the state of rule of law across the union.

“We have been expressing the need for safeguards for years. But with new incidents reported by stakeholders and budget cuts, this is becoming very urgent,” Jourová said, reported in the FT.

Brussels specifically highlighted issues over the independence of public broadcaster Rai and increasing lawsuits against journalists and said it raised the matter directly with Rome. Meloni’s government is in confrontation with journalists at the broadcaster, whose union struck in May over complaints of editorial interference.

The union accused the governing board, which is dominated by government appointees, of seeking to transform the broadcaster into the ruling party’s mouthpiece. Meloni has previously rejected claims that she is attempting to control the state broadcaster, arguing that it had long been dominated by the Italian left.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Policy, Regulation

Tags: European Commission, italy, RAI