Discussion between ALIA and the members of the Parliament’s Media Commission

On 5 March 2024, ALIA had the opportunity to discuss the status of the reform of the legal framework for media regulation in Luxembourg with the members of the Media Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The questions raised by the MPs revealed in particular that:

• The broad policy guidelines of this reform have not yet been decided
• The projects (regulation of online platforms, regulation of social media content in general and during election campaigns in particular, regulation of municipal television, etc.) are growing
• The human and financial resources for the Authority are stagnating or even declining

The budget allocation adopted in the draft budget for 2024 suggests that effective regulation of the media and, more generally, of forms of mass communication does not appear to be one of the government’s priorities, even though the reform of the law that it requires was announced in the coalition agreement. This allocation is insufficient to ensure the development of the internal growth projects necessary for the fulfilment of ALIA’s multiple missions.

This observation follows a reminder by a member of parliament that, during the conference organised by ALIA in spring 2023, all the representatives of the political parties, including those of the current government coalition, agreed on the urgency of providing ALIA with the necessary resources. At stake is the independence of the regulator, enshrined in the terms of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive governing regulation, but also the international credibility of Luxembourg and its place in the media, which has more than 400 media services to monitor compared to a team of 13 permanent staff at the Authority.