EBU President Jean-Paul Philippot has expressed his grave concern regarding proposed changes to public service media in Poland. In an open letter to the Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydło, he urged the government to resist any temptation to strengthen political control over the media.

The EBU community fears that suggested structural and personnel changes affecting the governance of EBU members Telewizja Polska (TVP – Polish Television) and Polskie Radio (PR – Polish Radio) will mark a step backwards for their independence and editorial output and harm the Polish media ecosystem.

In the letter EBU President Jean-Paul Philippot said: “Any changes in the governance system of TVP and PR should be taken after a thorough analysis and impact assessment, and should be the result of an open democratic debate. The EBU is ready to assist the Polish government and provide expert legal advice.”

“The way PSM supervisory and management boards are appointed is a crucial factor to ensure the independence of PSM organisations. Pluralism and independence from political powers are key principles of public service media in a democratic society, as set out by the European Court of Human Rights and several reference texts by the Council of Europe,” Philippot continued.

“Despite a systemic lack of public funding, the Polish public service media system has been among the most successful transformation models in Central and Eastern Europe. It is not time to reverse what has so far been a positive trend since the fall of communism in Poland.”

To date, Poland can boast an excellent track record in terms of freedom of the media, which ranks in the top category in the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index 2015 as well as in the 2015 Freedom House report on political rights and civil liberties. TVP reaches more than 90% of the Polish population every week and had about 30% of the TV broadcasting market in Poland in 2014, which is higher than in the case of most public TV channels in Central and Eastern Europe.