France and six European states unite to authorise the spying on journalists

France, Italy, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and Sweden aim to undermine the first European law aimed at protecting freedom and independence of media in Europe. According to documents obtained by Disclose, in partnership with Investigate Europe and Follow the Money, these seven countries actively advocate for authorizing surveillance of journalists in the name of “national security”.

The tug of war is coming to an end. For over a year, a bill designed to protect media freedom in Europe, the European Media Freedom Act, has been the subject of intense debates in Brussels and Strasbourg. Within this document aimed at ensuring the independence, freedom, and pluralism of the media, one article stands at the heart of tensions between the member states and the European Parliament: Article 4, concerning the protection of journalistic sources, considered as one of the “basic conditions for press freedom” by the European Court of Human Rights. Without this protection, “the vital public-watchdog role of the press as guardian of the public sphere may be undermined.”

Disclose, in partnership with the collective of journalists Investigate Europe and the media Follow the Money, has managed to penetrate the closed-door negotiations. Our investigation unveils the details of fifteen months of negotiations that could lead to a final text on December 15, 2023, after a third round of discussions between the EU Council, the Parliament, and the European Commission. These documents (summarised at the end of this article) reveal the repressive intentions of the French government against the press, actively supported by the far-right Italian government and the authorities of Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, and Sweden.