On October 11, Slovenians will vote on a referendum on whether to abolish the license fee that funds their public broadcaster. In addition, a draft law is moving forward that would give the government decisive influence over the body responsible for appointing the broadcaster’s management. The International Press Institute (IPI) and the undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) warn that both proposals risk breaching the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and call on parliament to pause the legislative process.

Ahead of a consultative referendum on abolishing the mandatory contribution that finances RTV Slovenia (RTV SLO), our organizations stress that removing the existing funding model without a legally binding and adequately protected alternative could undermine the broadcaster’s financial stability and independence.

MFRR partners are also concerned about a separate draft bill published by the Ministry of Culture, which proposes amendments to the RTV Slovenia Act. The new coalition government led by the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) is proposing a major overhaul of the broadcaster’s organizational structure.

Our organizations have assessed the proposal and warn that it would concentrate decisive appointment powers within the broadcaster’s supervisory structure in the executive and risks increasing governmental influence over its management and editorial independence.

If passed, the bill would risk reversing progress made since the 2022 reform in strengthening safeguards for RTV SLO’s institutional independence.

MFRR partners also warn that, if approved in the current form, elements of the proposed reforms would be incompatible with EMFA Article 5, which requires Member States to guarantee the editorial and functional independence of public service media and establishes safeguards concerning the appointment and dismissal of their management and the adequacy, sustainability and predictability of their funding.

The undersigned organizations therefore call on the Slovenian parliament to pause the legislative process and to ensure that any changes to the country’s public media framework are subject to broad parliamentary scrutiny and are developed in cooperation with the public media institutions and their management.

Ahead of the referendum and pending parliamentary debate on the media reform bill, MFRR partners call on the European Commission to closely monitor the situation in Slovenia, including the potential impact of the proposed changes on the independence and sustainable financing of public service media under the EMFA.

The European Commission should assess the compatibility of the Ministry of Culture’s draft bill with the EMFA. The European Parliament’s EMFA Working Group should also make scrutiny of the proposed changes affecting public media in Slovenia a key priority in its monitoring and consultative agenda.

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