A new report published by conservative think tank MCC Brussels exposes the extent to which EU institutions are funding establishment media organisations “to promote explicitly pro-EU narratives and marginalise critical voices.”
The report, entitled Brussels’s media machine: EU media funding and the shaping of public discourse, reveals that the European Commission and the European Parliament collectively disburse close to €80 million per year to various media outlets under the guise of promoting “media freedom” and to “fight against disinformation.” However, they are in fact using the money to shape public debate and promote the EU agenda.
The report contends that the EU’s financial leverage creates a “semi-structural relationship” with major media outlets, particularly public broadcasters and news agencies, blurring the lines between independent journalism and institutional communication.
The report concludes that the EU systematically invests in shaping a “friendly” media environment that reinforces its legitimacy and political goals, and that this systemic conflict of interest compromises the media’s ability to hold EU institutions to account.
The paper follows a similarly damning report by MCC Brussels which recently revealed that €650 million of EU taxpayers’s money has been spent on “research” on so-called “hate speech” and “disinformation,” described by the author as a key part of the EU’s efforts to control the narrative of public discourse and crack down on dissenting voices.
