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The Media Regulation Bill 2026 (Bill) is proceeding through the Irish legislature (i.e. the Oireachtas) and is currently at Committee Stage in Seanad Éireann (i.e. the upper house).
As discussed in our previous Insight, the Bill proposes significant changes to the review of media-related businesses in Ireland under the Competition Act 2002 (as amended) (Competition Act). The Bill updates the Competition Act to reflect changes introduced by the European Media Freedom Act (EU Regulation 2024/1083) (EMFA).
Proposed amendments to the Bill
The Irish Government recently published a number of amendments to the Bill in October 2026.
The amendments expand the Bill's scope to give full effect to Article 20(4) of the EMFA and introduce a new regulatory framework for the enforcement of Articles 20(2) and 20(3) EMFA which relate to the right to customise the media offering on devices and user interfaces. While the majority of EMFA provisions took effect in August 2025, Article 20 will apply from May 2027.
The amendments further extend Coimisiún na Meán's (CnaM) existing investigatory and sanctions powers and establish a new compliance notice and complaints regime in respect of alleged breaches of Articles 20(2) and 20(3) by manufacturers, developers, and importers.
Primary purpose of the Bill - media merger reform
The primary purpose of the Bill is to align Ireland’s media merger regime with the EMFA and the headline changes introduced by the Bill are that:
The effect of the Bill will be that a notifiable media merger will need to be notified firstly either to the European Commission under the EU Merger Regulation (if it has an EU dimension) or to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (taking into account its effect on competition) and secondly (assuming it has been approved) to CnaM (to assess its effect on pluralism of the media and editorial independence in Ireland).
For a more detailed overview of the Bill and the proposed reforms to the media merger regime, see our previous Insight from May 2026: The Media Regulation Bill 2026 – A new media merger system for Ireland.
Media mergers, the EMFA and the draft EU Merger Guidelines
It is worth noting that the current draft EU Merger Guidelines (which reflect the approach that the European Commission intends to take when assessing notifiable mergers from a substantive competition perspective under the EU Merger Regulation (Guidelines)) states at para 9 that: “At the same time, EU merger control contributes to maintaining a balance of power that is essential to democratic societies. By limiting concentration in the media sector, it supports diversity and plurality of information sources and choice for EU citizens.”
At footnote 20 of the Guidelines, the European Commission also states that: “Without impeding the ability of Member States [e.g. Ireland] to safeguard media pluralism in their review of the same merger as guaranteed by Article 22 [EMFA], the Commission assesses media sector mergers according to the same principles as mergers in other sectors, taking into account parameters such as diversity of (information) supply where relevant for competition.”
Next steps
The Bill has completed all stages in Dáil Éireann (the lower house) and is currently at committee stage in the Seanad. As the Seanad has adopted a number of amendments (as outlined above), the Bill would typically return to the Dáil for consideration of those amendments. Once the remaining stages have been completed, the Bill moves forward to be signed into law by the President of Ireland (unless referred to the Supreme Court under Article 26 of the Irish Constitution). We will continue to monitor developments and provide further updates as the Bill progresses.
It is anticipated that the Guidelines will be finalised by the end of 2026.
Sources
If you have any queries on media mergers in Ireland or the effect of the Bill (and the EMFA) or the Guidelines more generally on your media merger deals in Ireland, please contact Anna-Marie Curran, Dervla Broderick, Alan McCarthy or Vincent Power or any member of the A&L Goodbody EU, Competition and Procurement team.
Date published: 3 November 2026
