The Constitutional Court (ÚS) of the Slovak Republic turns to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) in the case of an initiative by the members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic regarding the STVR Act, and submits a number of prejudicial questions to it. They concern the compliance of the provisions of national legislation with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). This follows from Wednesday’s decision of the ÚS, which it published on its website.
The first of the questions refers to procedural procedures in the selection of the general director and members of the board of STVReligibility conditions of candidates or scope of justification for the appointment and dismissal of board members and the general director. The second preliminary question concerns whether the national legislation in the manner of creation of the STVR Council sufficiently guarantees the independence of the members of this body from the executive power.
Other questions to which the ÚS requests an answer from the European Court of Justice relate to the alignment of EMFA requirements with the rules and procedural procedure of the work of the STVR Ethics Commission and guarantees of editorial independence.
The last of the preliminary questions refers to the very creation of STVR, which replaced the previous public media. ÚS asks whether this decision of the legislator, even before the EMFA comes into force, may be in conflict with the Treaty on European Union. At the same time, the ÚS announces that it is suspending the proceedings in the matter.
The constitutional complaint was filed by opposition MPs at the beginning of summer 2024. According to them, the law contradicts the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and European legislation. In the complaint, they objected, among other things, to the content of the legislation and the process of its adoption, including the exclusion of the public from the preparation of the law and the shortening of the debate in parliament.
