The European Commission has said today that it will exercise its powers to ensure compliance with press freedom regulations if the amendment to the Lusa news agency’s articles of association fails to align with European Union (EU) rules (as critics suggest they do).
In a written response to Left Bloc MEP Catarina Martins, the EU executive confirmed that it remains in contact with Portugal – among other member states – to ensure that its legislation complies with the European Media Freedom Act, applicable since 8 August 2025, saying that it will exercise its enforcement powers to ensure compliance where necessary – with a particular focus on systemic issues.
In February, Catarina Martins asked the Commission whether Lusa’s new articles of association complied with European regulations on press freedom, suggesting they “promote greater government control and political oversight” – something this particularly administration seems very keen on.
Ms Martins said that Article 5 of the European Regulation on Media Freedom stipulates that “Member States shall ensure that public service media providers are editorially and functionally independent and provide in an impartial manner a plurality of information and opinions to their audiences”.
Trades unions representing Lusa’s workers have also asked the European Commission about the possibility of opening an investigation to assess compliance with European law regarding the agency’s restructuring and new governance model, following the state’s purchase of the agency’s entire share capital in November 2025.
This far, they have not received a response, says Lusa’s article today.
Among the changes was the creation of a 13-member Advisory Committee, six of whom are to be appointed by political authorities (three by the parliament, two by the Autonomous Regions governments and one by the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities), four by business associations and one by the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP.
“Only two are appointed by bodies representing Lusa’s workers (one by the Editorial Board and one by the company’s Workers’ Committee),” said a source for the trade unions.
Lusa’s ‘influence’ on the nation’s media is very obvious: many media outlets repeat ‘Lusa texts’ verbatim, without changing so much as a comma. If the state news agency is ‘compromised’ by political power, it means that information that people need to have could be missing.
Source: LUSA
