MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Foreign entities funding EU media – E-001452/2025

Question for written answer  E-001452/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Catherine Griset (PfE), Pascale Piera (PfE), Julien Leonardelli (PfE), Alexandre Varaut (PfE), Pierre Pimpie (PfE), Julie Rechagneux (PfE)

Last February, the new US President, Donald Trump, suspended funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This led us to discover that a significant proportion of seemingly independent media, journalists and experts were in fact paid by the former US Administration.

• 1.In its fight against disinformation and foreign interference (referred to in Article 19 of the European Media Freedom Act[1], for instance), will the Commission investigate the funding of EU media by foreign – including US – entities?
• 2.Will it require any media, journalists and experts called on by the various media outlets to declare that they are funded by foreign, private or public entities?
• 3.Is this foreign funding of EU media, journalists and experts subject to income tax or taxation by the Member States?

Supporters[2]

Submitted: 9.4.2025

• [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L_202401083
• [2] This question is supported by Members other than the authors: Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain (PfE), Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE), Mathilde Androuët (PfE)