The European Media Freedom Act: A European gamechanger for media freedom advocates
Renate Schroeder
Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
12 November 2025
14:00 UK Time
The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) officially came into force across all EU Member States on August 8, 2025. The Act was designed to provide guarantees towards safeguarding media freedom across Europe with the recognition of certain protections, including the protection of sources and the protection from spyware, alongside promoting transparency surrounding media ownership and state advertisement. However, despite the introduction of the EMFA, there are some Member States where implementation is a long way off. Across Europe, we have seen the rise of populist governments that have attempted to shut down media freedom, with journalists being forced into exile and arbitrarily detained for doing their job. There are concerns that in those States, the EMFA will not be fully implemented and is not a ‘silver bullet’ towards providing protection for journalists.
In this Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) seminar, Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists, talks to us about the Act and the articles that are designed to protect journalists and media freedom advocates, highlighting how in several Member States implementation is not taking place. Renate will also discuss the newly installed Media Board, designed to oversee implementation of the Act, and how it needs to step-up and be more than a bureaucratic box-ticking mechanism in order to protect media freedom across Europe.
Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in 1993 she joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and since 2003 she has worked for the EFJ.
Her responsibilities include advocacy at the EU and Council of Europe levels, representing the EFJ at international meetings, delivering lectures, participating in fact-finding missions on media freedom, and serving on juries for journalistic prizes. She also oversees project work and provides guidance to several EFJ expert groups, including those focused on freelancers, public service media and AI. She has been leading the Federation’s debate on the European Media Freedom Act.
Renate studied International Relations and Political Science at Boston University (Bachelor’s Degree in 1988) and in Berlin at the Free University (Master in 1992). She worked at the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Brussels before she joined the EFJ. She is of German nationality and speaks English, French, Italian, German, and (passive) Spanish.