Clifford Chance

Can changes in the Polish media sector affect foreign investors?

3 February 2016

On 31 December 2015, the Polish Parliament ignored a letter of concern from the European Commission and passed an amendment to Poland’s media law that sacks the management of the public television and radio broadcasters, TVP and Polskie Radio, and empowers the Minister of the State Treasury to appoint their successors. The new law is just the start, according to its authors. The next step is to turn the public media into "national media".

Given the above, many questions may arise. Can the current tendency to "nationalize" media also have an impact on private media owned by foreign companies in Poland? Could it result in a reduction of the share of foreign companies in the media market? Which legal tools might be used by the current government?

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