In the wake of our discussion on Friday with the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed again today its serious concerns about the sweeping powers granted to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a parliamentary vote approving indefinite rule by decree and jail terms for spreading misinformation. The EFJ fully supports the petition “No Quarantine for Democracy!” developed with MEPs (including Ramona Strugariu, Stelios Kouloglou, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Lara Wolters and Guy Verhofstadt), which is calling on all EU Member States to ensure reinforced protections for journalists, the media…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) submitted on 6 March a position paper to the European Commission (EC) on the implementation of Article 17 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, to ensure protected journalistic works available on online content-sharing service providers (“OCSSPs”) are effectively and fairly remunerated. Article 17 of the new Directive aims to close the “value-gap” between rights-holders and online platforms and to ensure a fair share of the wealth generated by platforms, – tech giants in particular – using protected works, is distributed to creative industries and their authors. The position…

The EFJ is invited to participate to the discussions on fundamental rights, in the framework of the EU 2020 Enlargement package.

Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency invited the EFJ to a meeting, in order to discuss journalism issues.

At the conference it is organising in Paris on 6 December, the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) joined forces with other organisations defending press freedom to call on European institutions and governments to adopt effective measures to protect the Fourth estate for the sake of democracy. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the call, emphasising the need to avoid any procedure for certification or labelling of the media, on the pretext of combating misinformation, and the importance of supporting the International Convention on the Safety and Independence of Journalists and Other Media Professionals proposed by the International Federation of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has participated today at the European Parliament in the workshops and the conference ‘Risking everything to uphold EU values and democracy: protecting journalists in the EU’, organised by Renew Europe Group and Romanian MEP Ramona Strugariu. During the conference, MEP Sophie in’t Veld said that the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had a significant role and importance. She stated that Malta will only be able to regain press freedom with the end of impunity for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Daphne’s son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, made a tribute to her work and…

The Renew Europe event “Risking everything to uphold EU values and democracy: protecting journalists in the EU” will take place in the European Parliament on October 17th, 2019 from 10h to 13h30. The event is dedicated to the protection and support of independent media and investigative journalists. This initiative aims to be the start of a close collaboration between the legislators and independent journalists taking the shape of two initial workshops, where journalists and civil society partners can meet and discuss their necessities in areas such as future EU legislation, future financing mechanisms or other connected topics. The workshops “Creating…

Together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) believes that the distribution of European Commission portfolios is a hopeful sign that the European Union can deliver social progress over the next five years. The EFJ particularly welcomes the fact that media pluralism is mentioned as one of the EU Commission’s priorities. European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen presented on Tuesday the proposed new team of Commissioners, including some hopeful developments. As the ETUC has stated, Commissioners Nicolas Schmidt (Luxembourg) and Paolo Gentiloni (Italy), proposed for the jobs and economy portfolios, were both strong…

Sound democracies need healthy media. The new EU mandate after these elections will show this. The role of media in a changing society is crucial for our democracies, now more than ever. Yet, the sector faces threats on a daily basis, from fake news to mistrust. Are policymakers and the media sector adapting and facing these constantly evolving threats? Fondation EURACTIV, in cooperation with EU40 and Frank Schwalba-Hoth, is organising a networking event for MEPs in order to raise awareness on the central strategic role media policy will play in the new Parliament. “#MEDIA4DEMOCRACY” Agenda: – Welcoming words given by hosting MEP (Franc BOGOVIČ – EPP, SL…

Following the EU Elections, it will be clear if online platforms were used to influence the outcome. Newly elected MEPs will have the opportunity to review the future strategy for the media sector, ensuring its sustainability and support to democracy. The current EU priority of a ‘’Digital Single Market’’ has not prevented disinformation and populism, nor the demise of many media. More can be done. Now is a chance to propose a new “top 10 priority” that MEPs and the incoming Commission can support. This could be endorsed by the next President and then re-emphasised at the Commissioners’ hearings. A…

In 2018, the Advisory Council on Internet and Elections, instituted by the Superior Electoral Court on December 7th, 2017, fostered many activities related to the influence of internet over Elections, especially concerning the risks brought by fake news and the use of robots for spreading this kind of information. Those activities enabled the widening of Electoral Justice’s knowledge about the topic, helping not only to prevent but also to tackle the great problem of fake news spreading during the 2018 General Elections. Considering that balancing the phenomenon known as fake news is extremely complex in every branch of society, in…

Quinta-feira 16 de maio 2019 – 10:30-12:00 Auditório do bloco 3 (capacidade 250) Esta mesa redonda apresentará uma reflexão das atuais medidas da União Europeia sobre as Fake News, com uma mirada especial sobre a situação no Brasil, e, em particular, como este fenômeno atinge os jovens e como eles compreende-o e contrastam a propagação das notícias falsas nos vários meios de comunicação. 10:30 – 10:45 Abertura do evento Intervenção da autoridade da UniCEUB (a definir) Intervenção da Senhora Hilde Hardeman, Diretora do Instrumento de Parceria, Serviço Europeu para a Ação Externa, União Europeia 10:45 – 11:30 Mesa redonda sobre…

The European Parliament passed on Thursday, with 398 votes to 85 and 69 abstentions, a resolution summarising the conclusions of the working group set up within the Civil Liberties Committee to monitor the situation of rule of law in the EU, particularly in Malta and Slovakia, following the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this EP resolution deploring serious shortcomings in the rule of law in Malta and Slovakia, also warning of rising threats for journalists throughout the EU. The text underlines that the assassinations…

The European Parliament today adopted the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market by 348 votes in favor and 274 against. A call to open the text to amendments was lost by just 5 votes. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) welcome the adoption of this long-awaited piece of legislation, which they have worked tirelessly to promote and improve. The newdirective includes key provisions for the publishing industry and authors, including journalists receiving a share of the revenue press publications generate online using their work, the principle of appropriate and proportionate remuneration for authors, key transparency obligations and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) reminds MEPs that EFJ and IFJ support the Copyright Directive. The EFJ has today reiterated its support for the Copyright Directive and called on Members of the European Parliament to adopt a text that ensures journalists in the European Union will benefit from the revenues generated from the online use of their work. As EFJ and IFJ have repeatedly pointed out the proposal includes important provisions for the publishing industry and authors, including a share of the revenue press publications generate online (Article 11), the principle of proportionate remuneration for authors (Article -14), key…