European Union pressuring Turkey to release jailed journalists

The European Union and Turkey will see no progress in their relations as long as Turkey holds journalists in prison, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday (12/01/2018) at a news conference in Bulgaria. The president of the European Commission made this comment following the news that a Criminal Court in Istanbul defied the Turkish Constitutional Court’s decision ruling that the journalists’ rights had been violated and subsequently to release imprisoned journalists Mehmet Altan and Sahin Alpay.   “Turkey is moving away from its European ambitions of the past and we are going to have to see…

EFJ’s reaction to President Juncker’s State of the Union Speech

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, has made his State of the Union speech outlining his vision for the future of Europe. Commenting on the State of the Union speech, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes his commitment to address the social dimension of the digital single market in particular in the area of social and workers’ rights. In his speech, President Juncker said: “In a Union of equals, there can be no second class workers. Workers should earn the same pay for the same work in the same place.” Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary said: “We welcome…

President Juncker joined trade union debate on future of Europe

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for a discussion on the future of Europe with trade union leaders from all EU countries. The discussion took place yesterday, in Brussels, during an extraordinary Executive Committee meeting of the ETUC. The European Federation of Journalists was represented by its General Secretary, Ricardo Gutiérrez. The ETUC believes a wide debate on the future of Europe is desperately needed due to the growing lack of trust in the EU caused by high unemployment and poverty, Brexit, terrorism, the failure to deal effectively with the refugee emergency, and growing…

Tax reduction on digital content must be reinvested into journalism

A delegation of the European Federation of Journalists (composed of EFJ Steering Committee member Urs Thalmann, EFJ Director Renate Schroeder and EFJ Trainee Hélène Brédart) met with Francine Cunningham, Executive Director of the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) to discuss issues of relevance to both organisations as well as follow-up of an EFJ resolution on social dialogue in Switzerland. The EFJ representatives outlined the difficult situation for journalists in Switzerland as the publishers continue to refuse to negotiate a collective agreement in the German and Italian speaking parts of the country. Both the EFJ and ENPA agree that the struggle for the…