European Federation of Journalists

IMPACT

IMPACT – Independent Media Promoting Accountability, Community, and Trust in European Democracy

A vibrant civil society consists of informed citizens who know their rights within a system that upholds democratic values. Civil society organisations are central to enforcing and upholding EU fundamental rights and values. For a democratic political system to thrive, workers, journalists and human rights defenders must therefore benefit from stable working conditions. Workplaces grounded in democratic standards result in more equitable, innovative, job-rich societies.

The EFJ and its members strive to:

  • protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of all journalists and journalists’ unions and associations in Europe;
  • promote and defend freedom of information, media freedom and pluralism and independence of journalism;
  • uphold and improve professionalism and to promote high standards of journalism, ethics of journalism, and journalistic education;
  • improve and defend the social and working conditions of all journalists, employed and freelance;
  • promote equality of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status, to exercise non-discrimination in its activities and to strive to achieve equality in representation within its statutory bodies;

This project aims to achieve these principles through advocacy, training, and support to our members.

To achieve the priorities and the objectives, the EFJ will carry out the following activities:

  1. Thematic EFJ Expert Groups meetings (promoting workers’ rights and gender equality and diversity)
  2. European capacity building/advocacy training on media freedom issues
  3. A financial scheme “National Capacity building Fund” for EFJ members

The project will run from 1 January to 31 December 2026 and is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the EFJ only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Actions

IMPACT: Journalists’ organisations roll out capacity-building initiatives

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has launched its funding scheme through its IMPACT project, co-funded by the European Commission, to help member unions improve journalists’ working conditions and defend their fundamental rights. Following a three-month process of application and evaluation carried out by the independent Evaluation Committee set up by the EFJ, 8 members from Croatia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Spain, France and Bulgaria, were rewarded with a total of 69,012 EUR to carry out their national projects. The projects launched by the journalists’ unions and associations will address a wide range of issues, including defending media freedom as…

Poland: EFJ condemns planned layoffs at Ringier Axel Springer despite company’s profits

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Germany (dju in ver.di, DJV), Poland (Society of Journalists) and Switzerland (syndicom) in calling on the German Springer Group and the Swiss publisher Ringier to abandon their plans to cut jobs at their Polish joint venture, Ringier Axel Springer Polska (RASP).  According to information obtained by the dju, the company intends to reduce its workforce by almost 12%. With 1,350 employees, this could result in around 160 redundancies, despite RASP paying out 161 million zloty (around 37.86 million euros) to its shareholders in 2024. Against this backdrop, the planned redundancies…

World Press Freedom Day: Protecting Public Service Media as critical infrastructure for democracy

Public Service Media (PSM) in Europe are under unprecedented attacks: from Finland to Italy, by way of France, Slovakia, Lithuania and Czech Republic – you name it. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (#WPFD2026), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) advocates for public service media as critical democratic infrastructure emphasising that their quality, independence, and robust funding are indispensable for fostering informed and pluralistic debates. It is a domino effect that has been unfolding before our eyes for several years now: European governments are trying to weaken, undermine or exert greater political control over public service media. Almost…

Hungary: EFJ calls on the new political leaders to restore media pluralism

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) commends the role of independent media in covering the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, against a backdrop of the outgoing government’s takeover of the media. We call on Péter Magyar, who is is expected to become the next Prime Minister, to consult without delay with our affiliates in Hungary, MUOSZ and HPU, academics and civil society, in order to initiate the reforms necessary to guarantee media pluralism and independence in Hungary, in accordance with European legal standards, in particular the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The Hungarian media landscape is characterised by the widespread takeover…

Romania: FAIR-MediaSind calls for infringement procedure against Romania due to EMFA violations

On 30 March 2026, the Federation of Culture and Mass-Media FAIR-MediaSind notified the European Commission and European Parliament of repeated violations of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) by the Romanian government. The European and the International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) fully support their affiliate’s request to initiate dialogue with Romanian authorities and assess the country’s compliance with the Regulation. Although the EMFA entered into force on 8 August 2025 and is directly applicable in all Member States, the government led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has failed to implement key provisions of the regulation establishing a common framework for…

Lithuania: Parliament pushes ahead with controversial LRT reforms despite Venice Commission concerns

On 12 March 2026, the new version of the law on the governance of Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT will be put to a vote in Parliament, while the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has just expressed its concern about the recent amendments. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate in Lithuania, the Association of Professional Journalists (ŽPA), in opposing the bill and calling on the authorities to abandon their plans to freeze the public broadcaster’s funding and change the procedure governing the dismissal of the Director General. The Venice Commission is an advisory body that provides…