In response to the Arab Spring, the EU shifted the focus of its neighbourhood policy from economic development towards human rights.

In response to the Arab Spring, the EU shifted the focus of its neighbourhood policy from economic development towards human rights.
Collectively, the European Union of 28 member states has an important role to play in the promotion of freedom of expression in the world.
The EU has made a number of positive contributions to digital freedom, but it must do more.
The main threats to media freedom and the work of journalists are from political pressure or pressure exerted by the police, to non-legal means, such as violence and impunity.
Media plurality in the EU is an essential part of guaranteeing the media is able to perform its watchdog function. Without a plurality of opinions, the analysis of political arguments in democracies can be limited.
There are a number of challenges to media freedom within the EU, in particular media ownership patterns, political and state pressure in the operation of the media and overly prescriptive regulation of the media.
The law of libel, privacy and national “insult” laws vary across the European Union. In a number of member states, criminal sanctions are still in place and public interest defences are inadequate, curtailing freedom of expression.
As Greece prepares to take on the presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, the country continues to grapple with the free expression fallout from its financial crisis. Christos Syllas reports
Since the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, which made the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding, the EU has gained an important tool to deal with breaches of fundamental rights.
Time to Step Up: The EU and freedom of expression, looks at freedom of expression both within the European Union’s 28 member states and how this union defends freedom of expression in the wider world.