The European Commission is establishing a Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom in Florence thanks to a grant of €600,000. The new Centre is foreseen to start in December 2011 under the Professor Pier Luigi Parcu presidency. Its main objective is to develop new ideas on how to ensure a highly diverse and free media.

The new Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom will start working in December 2011 thanks to a €600,000 grant to the European University Institute's (EUI) Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. The Centre will be headed by Professor Pier Luigi Parcu and its objectives will be to develop new ideas on how to ensure a highly diverse and free media. In addition, it will work to enhance the quality of the reflection on media pluralism in Europe.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda highlighted at the presentation of the new Centre that it has an important job to do developing and testing ideas on media pluralism and freedom that can enrich public debate and policy. Furthermore, the Centre will carry out four specific activities: theoretical and applied research (working paper series, policy studies, observatory on media pluralism), debates, education and training activities (academic seminars, summer school) and dissemination of results and outcomes.

The Commission stated that this initiative is a further step in the Commission's ongoing commitment to improve the protection of media pluralism and media freedom in Europe and establish whether further action needs to be taken at European or national and regional level. It recently established a high-level group on this subject, chaired by Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga. The Commission is also in the process of establishing a multi-stakeholder group on the future of the media which will become operational in the near future.