The European Commission has stepped into a growing controversy over Hungary’s new media law.

Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, has written to the government of Viktor Orbán, asking for details about the law, which is supposed to come into effect on 1 January.

The law establishes a new media and communications regulator and gives it the power to punish newspapers and broadcasters whose output it considers unbalanced or offensive to human dignity or common morals. It makes possible fines of up to €730,000 for national broadcasters, up to €90,000 for daily newspapers and internet publications and up to €35,000 for weekly and monthly publications.

The law was approved last week (21 December) by the national parliament, which is dominated by Orbán’s party, and is now awaiting the president’s signature.

The law is to take effect on 1 January, the same day that Hungary takes over the presidency of the European Union’s Council of Ministers.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, and Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minister, are among those who have criticised the law as a threat to press freedom.

A Commission spokesman said that Kroes wanted to assess the compatibility of the new law with the EU’s law on audiovisual media services. That would, he said, be the Commission’s “most clear entry-point”, but the text would be analysed to see whether any other EU laws were affected.