The European Parliament Office in Malta has again penned a letter to the Broadcasting Authority on Wednesday, calling for the immediate suspension and revision of the directive it issued regarding reporting activities related to EP President Roberta Metsola.
The Office also said that upon suspension, the directive would be subject to legal review to ensure that Parliament’s rights are fully respected, and that Maltese citizens remain entitled to the same information as every other European citizen.
The letter, signed by the Head of the EP Office in Malta Mario Sammut, was penned in reply to a BA statement issued on Monday, where it said that the directive was to ensure a level playing field at a time when elections are approaching.
The BA denied that it was, in any way, censoring any reporting about Metsola, without mentioning her name in the statement.
Sammut pointed out that the directive is not a practice that has ever been adopted by the Authority during national election campaigns vis-a-vis the national Parliament and Malta's Speaker.
“The impact of the Directive as currently worded could noticeably impinge on the ability of the European Parliament to fulfil its mandate in Malta. lt gives the Broadcasting Authority the power to sanction media houses that in their view report on the activities of the European Parliament and its President. This could have a chilling effect on Maltese journalists,” the letter read.
Sammut said that the wording of the Directive does not correspond with the BA’s stated intentions but rather it does the opposite, and “makes a level playing field impossible.”
The Liaison Office of the European Parliament in Malta reiterated its call for the BA to encourage media houses under its remit to enable as broad and far-reaching discussion as possible in the run up to the European Parliament elections.
“The European Parliament reserves its right to take further action on this matter,” the letter said.
The European Parliament Office in Malta sent a first request the Broadcasting Authority to suspend the directive a few days ago.