Juncker Commission breaks promise to create a mandatory lobby register, say transparency campaigners

According to ALTER EU transparency campaigners [1], the proposal by the Juncker Commission – as part of its 2015 work plan announced today – to introduce a mandatory lobby register on the basis of an inter-institutional agreement is misleading because such an agreement will not be binding on lobbyists. A revised lobby register based on an inter-institutional agreement will lack mechanisms for verifying whether the information in the register is correct and will mean that there is no possibility to apply effective sanctions when incorrect information has been provided. This is the situation currently and a new inter-institutional agreement will…

Media Integrity Matters

EU & Public service values in the Western Balkans media

On 18/11/2014, a conference entitled “Media Integrity Matters – Reclaiming public service values in the Western Balkans media: How should the European Union Respond ?” has been organized in Brussels by MEP Tanja Fajon. The event was a follow-up to the publication of the book “Media integrity matters” in June 2014, comprising the research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. The study aims at addressing the obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe/Western Balkans by pointing out corrupt relations and practices in media policy, media ownership and financing,…

Mediane Box for Media Diversity officially launched in Brussels

On 12 – 14 November, the Council of Europe (CoE) has launched a new toolbox for media professionals at the final encounter of a EU and CoE funded project on Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness (MEDIANE) with partnering organistions* including the European Federation of Journalists. The toolbox called “MEDIANE Box” was developed based on the hundreds of media professionals who have participated throughout the two-year project led by the CoE. The MEDIANE Box aims at supporting media professionals to include diversity in their daily work and production. It is considered as a self-monitoring tool to monitor the capacities of the media and…