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Celebrating 250 years of press freedom in Sweden

Today, Sweden celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Swedish Press Act. The act, which was the world's first legislation on freedom of expression and freedom of information and constitutes a vital part of Swedish democratic society, states that all citizens have the right to freely seek information. The European Magazine Media Association recognises the importance of this legislation, and joins in celebrating freedom of expression, transparency and media in Sweden and across Europe.

Press releases

European newspaper and magazine publishers welcome EU Commission’s proposal on reduced VAT for e-publications

The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) and the European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) jointly welcome the European Commission’s proposal     for a Directive as regards rates of value added tax applied to books, newspapers and periodicals that endorses the possibility for all Member States to choose to apply zero, super reduced, or reduced VAT rates, which are currently applicable to printed newspapers and magazines, to the digital environment.

Press releases

European publishers urge European Commission to recognise importance of digital advertising in review of the ePrivacy Directive

With media independence a hot topic across Europe and around the world, European publishers today called on the Juncker Commission to ensure that future “ePrivacy” rules do not needlessly deprive them of a critical revenue stream as they manage the difficult transitional to digital. The publishers are concerned that the current review of the ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC, also known as the ‘Cookie Directive’), may lead to new constraints on low-risk data processing for advertising purposes, including rules that would in effect force them to provide content for free. Over 90 European publishers, brought together by 26 European national Interactive Advertising Bureaus (IABs), IAB Europe and leading European publisher associations EPC (European Publishers Council), NME (News Media Europe), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association) and ENPA (European Newspaper Publishers’ Association), co-signed a letter to Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger highlighting their concerns.

Press releases

Commissioner Oettinger meets with EMMA Board, delegation of publishers on future of the sector

Members of the EMMA Board and a delegation of European publishers met with Commissioner Günther Oettinger yesterday evening to discuss the future of Europe’s publishing sector. On this occasion, Oettinger expressed his broad support for publishers, saying that they play a necessary role in the creation and dissemination of quality content, which is crucial for a democratic society. He also participated in a Q&A with EMMA members, during which the Commission’s copyright proposal, proposal on reduced VAT rates, and e-Privacy proposal were discussed.