The European Broadcasting Union has urged the Polish government to align planned media freedom reforms with sustainable funding for its public service media, warning that proposed cuts could weaken efforts to comply with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
In a letter sent on 5 November, the EBU expressed concern over reports that Warsaw is considering annual public funding of 2.5 billion PLN for public service media as part of wider media law changes – more than 30% below the level previously proposed for 2024.
While welcoming Poland’s steps to strengthen media independence and its early move to implement EMFA provisions, the EBU cautions that “independence without adequate funding risks being independence in name only”. It argues that public service media must be properly resourced to reflect Poland’s cultural and regional diversity, provide national and international services, and support democratic resilience at a time of heightened political and security pressures in Europe.
According to EBU analysis, the suggested funding level would represent around 0.06% of GDP, placing Poland 26th out of 30 European countries for public media investment and well below the European average of 0.12%. The organisation says such a gap would leave Poland behind most Central and Eastern European peers and threaten the viability of a PSM system that once served as a regional benchmark.
The EBU describes Polish public media as being in a “critical state”, and calls for urgent, predictable state-budget support for 2026 to stabilise operations in line with EMFA requirements on stable and adequate funding. It says it remains ready to work with the government to ensure that reforms deliver strong, independent and sustainable public service media for Polish citizens.
