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Ireland

Ireland’s EMFA implementation: Media Regulation Bill to broaden media merger control, include online platforms, shift decisions to Coimisiún na Meán, and add call-in powers and procedural reforms

Published on: 24 July 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Ireland - Commercial expert
Legal News
Table of contents
  • Introduction
  • Current media merger regime
  • EMFA
  • Proposed substantive changes
  • Proposed procedural changes
  • What’s next?
Article summary

Introduction

On 2 July 2025, the minister for Culture, Communications and Sport (the ‘minister’) confirmed that the Government has approved the General Scheme of the Media Regulation Bill (the ‘Draft Media Bill’). The Draft Media Bill sets out amendments to the Competition Act 2002 (as amended) (the ‘Competition Act’) to fulfil Ireland’s obligations under the European Media Freedom Act [1] (EMFA) in respect of media mergers [2]. If implemented, the proposals would expand the scope of Ireland’s existing media merger regime, while excluding transactions that are unlikely to affect media plurality or that have only a limited connection to Ireland. This briefing outlines the proposed reforms and reflects 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...

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