The EBU has written to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to express concern over draft legislation affecting public service media in the Czech Republic.
In a letter, EBU director general Noel Curran warned that the proposed reforms could undermine the independence, financial stability and European compliance of Czech Television and Czech Radio.
The EBU said its central concern was a proposed move from licence fee funding to direct state budget financing. While such systems exist elsewhere in Europe, the organisation said they require strong safeguards to ensure public service media funding remains adequate, predictable and protected from political influence.
It warned that the Czech proposal risks creating financial dependency on political decision-making through reduced funding levels, limited indexation and a lack of independent oversight.
The EBU also raised concerns that the draft law would narrow the public service remit by placing greater emphasis on news while restricting entertainment programming. It said this could conflict with Council of Europe standards, which support a broad public media offer serving all sections of society.
Governance provisions were also criticised, particularly parliamentary involvement in approving editorial codes and rules for appointing and dismissing media councils.
The EBU said these mechanisms risk increasing political influence and should be strengthened in line with the European Media Freedom Act.
It added that it remains ready to support dialogue and share expertise to help ensure the final legislation protects the independence and effectiveness of public service media in the Czech Republic.
