knowledge 20 April 2026 |

Proposed changes to Ireland’s media merger regime

EMFA

The origins of the EMFA can be traced back to the European Commission’s (the “Commission”) publication of its first annual Rule of Law Report in  September 2020 (the “Report”), which raised concerns with respect to media freedom and pluralism across the EU, particularly surrounding the politicisation of regulatory authorities, threats and attacks on journalists, media resourcing, and political pressure on the media. The Commission followed this by publishing the Defence of Democracy Action Plan in December 2020, which aimed to build more resilient democracies across the EU by, among other things, strengthening media freedom and countering disinformation.

In September 2022, the EMFA was proposed as part of this package of reforms, following the proliferation of a number of other measures to promote and protect media freedom. While a key element of the EMFA is ensuring the harmonisation of media merger regimes across Member States, the EMFA also addresses other concerns, such as:

• Protecting editorial independence, by protecting journalists against the use of surveillance tools, and imposing obligations on Member States to prevent state interference in editorial policies or decisions of media service providers;
• Promoting media transparency, by requiring media service providers to disclose certain information about their ownership structures and editorial decision making, ensuring details of public authorities’ advertising spending in media outlets and State funding of media service providers is publicly available, and introducing measures to create transparent, verifiable audience measurement systems;
• Protecting media content, by instituting safeguards to prevent the arbitrary removal or restriction of media content by very large online platforms; and
• Increasing regulatory oversight, by creating a new, independent European Board for Media Services, composed of representatives from the national media authorities, such as Coimisiún na Meán in the case of Ireland, to enforce EMFA.

Key changes introduced by the Bill

The Bill introduces some significant changes to the notification criteria and assessment of media mergers in Ireland, among other legislative amendments, which are required to fully implement the EMFA into Irish law. The main changes to the media mergers regime include:

• A new, broader ‘media business’ definition, which includes social media platforms
• Certain transactions involving a single media business are now within scope
• A new definition of “carrying on media business in Ireland”
• Changes to the assessment criteria for media mergers
• A new call-in power
• Voluntary notification
• Responsibility for the assessment of media mergers transferred to Coimisiún na Meán
• New “gun-jumping” offence for media mergers

Proposed key changes to the Irish media merger regime under the Media Regulation Bill

Changes impacting media merger notification requirements

At present, there is an obligation to notify mergers and acquisitions to the CCPC in which: (a) two or more undertakings involved carry on a media business in the State; or (b) one or more of the undertakings involved carries on a media business in the State, and one or more of the undertakings involved carries on a media business elsewhere.

In the Competition Act, a “media business” is currently defined as broadcasting services and any newspapers and periodicals (including those available online), programmes, or written, audio-visual, or photographic material, which consist “substantially of news and comment on current affairs”. Under the current regime, any “media business” with a physical presence in the State or with turnover of more than €2 million is caught by this notification requirement.

The Bill proposes to introduce some key changes to these thresholds for the notification of media mergers, both in terms of geographic scope and the type of transactions which are notifiable. We discuss these in more detail below:

 i)  A new, broader definition of a “media business”

The Bill proposes a new definition for “media business,” which encompasses any service whereby the principal purpose is to provide programmes or press publications to the general public, by “any means”, in order “to inform, entertain or educate”.² This represents a significant pivot away from the current conceptualisation of a “media business” in the Competition Act, which focuses on traditional forms of media and, in particular, on news and current affairs programming and publications, and excludes large swathes of the current media landscape, such as online platforms, social media, and content focused on entertainment, rather than news or current affairs. This represents a modernisation of the regulation of media mergers to better reflect the nature of media programming and publications.

 ii)  A new ‘media merger’ definition

The definition of ‘media merger’ has also been amended so that mergers involving a single media service provider may now require notification³. Under the current regime, a merger is only considered a media merger if it involves at least two media businesses. The Bill expands the scope of transactions which may fall within the regime, as it draws in transactions where only the target or one of the merging entities is active in Ireland This is much broader than the current regime and, particularly when combined with the expanded definition of a “media business”, could have the potential to result in a significant increase in media merger notifications (albeit limited somewhat by the introduction of a new requirement for notifiable transactions to have an Irish nexus, as described below).

 iii)  A revised local nexus threshold for notification of media mergers

The Bill also proposes to revise the geographic scope of the regime to exclude media businesses that have a physical presence in Ireland but do not meet the €2 million annual turnover threshold for notification. Under the current regime, any media business with a physical presence in the State or with turnover of more than €2 million requires mandatory notification. This amendment aims to shift the regime’s focus towards the most impactful transactions in the Irish media market.

 iv)  New call-in power for non-notifiable transactions

The Bill proposes to expand the powers of Coimisiún na Meán to enable it to “call-in” transactions which are not considered media mergers, in circumstances where the merger or acquisition may have a significant impact on media pluralism or editorial independence in the State.⁴ The provision is intended to capture exceptional cases which would not normally meet the threshold for notification but may still have a considerable impact on media plurality and editorial independence. Examples might include mergers involving local media outlets which have a low turnover, but a considerable impact on media plurality or editorial independence in a particular local area.

 v)  Voluntary notification

Another key change proposed by the Bill is to allow the voluntary notification of mergers which fall outside the aforementioned thresholds to Coimisiún na Meán, similar to the current procedure for voluntary notification of below-threshold mergers to the CCPC.⁵ A merger may be notified voluntarily to  Coimisiún na Meán where it involves at least one media business and has been subject to a positive determination on competition grounds from the CCPC or the European Commission. Voluntary notification aims to provide regulatory certainty to undertakings where they consider there is a strong possibility that the merger or acquisition may be called in for review.

Changes to the assessment of media mergers in Ireland

In addition to the above changes to the media merger notification requirements, there are a number of important procedural changes to the substantive assessment of media mergers in the State, and the surrounding regulatory framework.

 i)  Responsibility for the assessment of media mergers transferred to Coimisiún na Meán from the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport ⁶

This will give effect to EMFA’s requirement that Member States’ designated media regulator is substantively involved in assessing media market concentrations.

 ii)  Changes to the assessment criteria of media mergers

The Bill proposes to amend how media mergers are assessed in the State to reflect the criteria found in the EMFA. In examining a merger or acquisition, Coimisiún na Meán shall “form a view as to whether the merger or acquisition will be contrary to the public interest in protecting plurality of the media and editorial independence in the State.” ⁷

Other criteria which Coimisiún na Meán shall have regard to include:

 (a)  “the expected impact of the media market concentration on media pluralism…, taking into account the online environment and the parties’ interests in, links to or activities in other media or non-media businesses” ;

 (b)  "the safeguards for editorial independence, including the measures taken by media service providers with a view to guaranteeing the independence of editorial decisions” ; and

 (c)  “whether, in the absence of the media market concentration, the parties involved in the media market concentration would remain economically sustainable, and whether there are any possible alternatives to ensure their economic sustainability”.⁸

The new criteria aim to ensure proportionate and efficient merger reviews, balancing plurality of media and editorial independence with the economic sustainability of business operations.

New criminal offences

The Bill creates a number of new criminal offences related to the media mergers regime, including in the creation of a ‘gun-jumping’ offence for media mergers, prohibiting the implementation of a media merger prior to the receipt of a determination from Coimisiún na Meán with respect to the transaction.

Comment

As of 26 February 2026, the Bill has been published and is currently before Dáil Eireann, having completed the second stage of scrutiny.⁹ If the Bill is enacted in its current form, businesses involved in any form of media and content creation, including social media platforms and streaming services, should be mindful of the expansion of the type of media transactions which fall within scope of the regime, and which may require notification. Businesses will also need to be conscious of the effect of a proposed transaction on editorial independence and media pluralism, in light of the realignment of the assessment criteria for media mergers. Given Coimisiún na Meán’s new ‘call-in’ power, the potential impact of the new measures will be relevant to both mandatory-notifiable and below-threshold media mergers.

Parties should also note the increased legal and compliance risk involved with any transaction, which arises from the new criminal offences for gun-jumping and failure to notify or comply with information requests from Coimisiún na Meán.

 

Also contributed to by Alice Kearns