18/07/2025
Briefing

Introduction

On 2 July 2025, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport (the “Minister”) announced that the Government has approved the General Scheme of the Media Regulation Bill (the “Draft Media Bill”).  The Draft Media Bill proposes a number of changes to the Competition Act 2002 (as amended) (“Competition Act”) to give effect to Ireland’s obligations under the European Media Freedom Act[1] (“EMFA”) in relation to media mergers.[2]

The proposed changes (if implemented) will widen the scope of Ireland’s existing media merger regime, while excluding certain transactions that are unlikely to impact on media plurality or have a limited connection to Ireland.

This briefing summarises the proposed reforms and comments on the practical implications of these changes for stakeholders.

Current media merger regime

Ireland’s current media merger regime is governed by Part 3A of the Competition Act.  Under this framework, all “media mergers” must be notified to:

  • the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission under the Competition Act (or the European Commission under the EU Merger Regulation) to assess the merger’s impact on competition; and
  • the Minister to assess the merger’s impact on the plurality of the media in Ireland.

A media merger is a merger between two media businesses, where at least one of those businesses has either a physical presence in Ireland or at least €2 million of annual sales in Ireland.

Notification of media mergers is required irrespective of whether the standard financial thresholds for notification of mergers under the Competition Act are met.  In addition, the current regime can apply to media mergers between media businesses where only the purchaser operates in Ireland and where the transaction itself may have little or no impact on the media landscape in Ireland. 

EMFA

The EMFA is an EU Regulation that aims to safeguard media pluralism and editorial independence by harmonising national rules across the EU.  It is directly applicable to Member States, with most of the provisions coming into force on 8 August 2025.

Relevant to Ireland’s media merger regime, the EMFA requires Member States to facilitate an assessment of “media market concentrations” that could have a significant impact on media pluralism and editorial independence.[3]  “Media market concentrations” are mergers and acquisitions involving a media service provider or a provider of an online platform that provides access to media content.

The regulatory framework must meet certain requirements, including that Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland’s media regulator) be responsible or substantively involved in the assessment of media mergers.  The EMFA also requires certain elements be taken into account when a media market concentration is assessed (for example the expected impact of the media market concentration on media pluralism).

The Department for Culture, Communications and Sport (the “Department”) considers that, while Ireland’s existing media merger regime under the Competition Act largely complies with the EMFA, certain amendments will be needed for Ireland to fully give effect to the EMFA.  The Draft Media Bill sets out the initial draft legislative proposal to achieve this.  The Draft Media Bill will be scrutinised by an Oireachtas Committee, which will produce a report making recommendations for the final Media Regulation Bill.

Proposed substantive changes

The main substantive changes proposed in the Draft Media Bill are to:

  • Alter the scope of mergers that require notification from mergers involving two media businesses where at least one operates in Ireland to mergers where the target or object carries on a media business in Ireland;
  • Expand the definition of “media business” to include media service providers and online platforms which provide access to media content (such as social media platforms);
  • Amend the meaning of “carrying on a media business in Ireland” to exclude media businesses that have a physical presence in Ireland but do not meet the €2 million annual turnover threshold; and
  • Amend the existing call-in power under the Competition Act to allow the Coimisiún na Meán to call-in a merger when they are of the opinion that the merger may have a significant impact on the plurality of the media or editorial independence in Ireland.

These proposed changes will broaden the scope of the regime, as all acquisitions of Irish media businesses that exceed the €2 million annual turnover threshold will need to be notified (regardless of whether the purchaser has a media business).  The proposed changes will also better target the regime at mergers that do not significantly impact on the media landscape in Ireland (for example, by excluding acquisitions of foreign media businesses by purchasers that have a media business in Ireland and acquisitions of small, local Irish media businesses that do not exceed the turnover threshold).

Proposed procedural changes

Under the current regime, media mergers are referred to the Minister to review their impact on media plurality. 

The Draft Media Bill proposes to transfer full responsibility for the assessment of media mergers from the Minister to Coimisiún na Meán.  This will give effect to the EMFA’s requirement that Member States’ designated media regulator is substantively involved in assessing media market concentrations.  Coimisiún na Meán will be required to consider whether the merger will be contrary to editorial independence as well as media plurality in Ireland. 

There are also some changes proposed to how Phase 1 and Phase 2 assessments for media mergers will operate to streamline the procedural aspects of the review.  For both Phase 1 and Phase 2 mergers, Coimisiún na Meán will be required to publish the fact of making the determination, under what basis the determination was made, and a summary of any conditions.  For Phase 2 mergers, Coimisiún na Meán will be required to consult with the European Board for Media Services (the “Board”) and take “utmost account” of the Board’s opinion on the media merger in question. 

What’s next?

Important amendments to the current media merger regime in Ireland are coming.  The Draft Media Bill gives a good indication of the scope of these likely changes, but the Media Regulation Bill will need to be considered further on publication. 

Businesses active in the media sector should continue to evaluate carefully the impact of the Irish merger control process on their transactions, particularly as the jurisdictional position is updated in light of the coming into force of EMFA.

For more information, please contact a member of the Competition and Regulated Markets Group.

[1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1083 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market and amending Directive 2010/13/EU.

[2] The Draft Media Bill follows on from the Department’s consultation process in September 2024 on the implementation of the EMFA.  The Department proposed a range of legislative reforms, including in relation to media mergers, and sought feedback from stakeholders on those reforms.  See here for further information:  Public Consultation on the implementation of the European Media Freedom Act.

[3] Article 22, EMFA.