On November 10 2018, in occasion of the acquittal of Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome who was charged with forgery in relation to the appointment of Renato Marra as head of the Tourism Department, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio and the Five Stars Movement MP Alessandro Di Battista attacked again Italian journalists. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Italian affiliate, Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in organising a protest action  on November 13 to speak out against these systematic attacks against the press in Italy with the hashtag #GiùLeManiDallInformazione (Hands off the information).…

The Signatories in the Audiovisual Sector express their grave concern about the potential threat to the Audiovisual industry posed by Brexit. We call on the negotiators on both sides to ensure that the interests of the Audiovisual industry across the EU and the UK be protected in the current negotiations and in particular to give special consideration to the potentially very severe damage for their business operators and workers if the future framework for the cooperation between the EU and the UK Audiovisual sector are not adapted. More specifically: There are fears that, in the film and sector, important co-production…

On 6 November 2018, the Council of the European Union formally adopted a directive guaranteeing equal VAT rules for digital and printed publications. Member states will now have the possibility to apply reduced, super-reduced or zero VAT rates to e-newspapers, which were previously subjected to different VAT conditions. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this proposal aligning digital newspapers’ tax system to the ones of  physical publications. The adoption of the directive gives the possibility to member states to end tax discrimination against e-publication, implementing reduced VAT rates in their national legal systems. However, this is only a temporary…

Today, marking the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’, the Safety of Journalists Platform launches a special page, which presents 16 cases of unsolved murders of journalists in the Council of Europe member states, as submitted by the partner organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists. These cases are listed on the platform as impunity for murders, highlighting deficiencies in investigations and failure to bring to justice all the perpetrators, the organisers or the masterminds of these crimes. The 16 cases are: Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev (2013, Russian Federation); Mikhail Beketov (2013, Russian Federation); Hrant Dink (2007,…

On 16th October 2017, Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb attack in the town of Bidnija, near her family home. One year on, impunity remains because of the lack of an independent public inquiry and the unwillingness of the Maltese government to take concrete action. In addition press freedom is worryingly threatened and is decreasing since Daphne was killed. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a prominent investigative journalist who published a blog since 2008, labelled Running Commentary, one of the most widely read websites in Malta. She revealed a lot of stories on corrupted politicians,…

Journalists groups, editors, media owners and press freedom campaigners are joining forces today, 2 November, to demand urgent action by the United Nations to tackle impunity for crimes against journalists. With figures showing the number of killings of journalists rising in comparison to the same period last year and impunity in 9 out of 10 cases, the unprecedented coalition of professional journalists’ organisations is calling on UN member states to back media industry demands for a convention on the protection of journalists. Representatives of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the World Association of Newspapers (WAN-IFRA), the European Broadcasting Union…

Members of the Labour Rights Experts Group (LAREG) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) convened in Brussels on 31 October 2018 to discuss the latest improvement and deterioration of labour conditions for journalists and media workers in Europe. Journalists’ unions and professional associations of Germany, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia were represented. For the third year, the enlargement of the existing LAREG to participants from the Balkans and Turkey transformed the EFJ’s expert group into LAREG+, bringing together twice a year representatives from both sides of Europe. The pairing is possible thanks to the EU-UNESCO-funded project…

On 18 October 2018, the Helsinki District Court issued a symbolic verdict against online disinformation and hate speech. The Court’s decision makes Finland the first European country to directly fight Internet trolls, taking action against those who harass journalists through the net. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Finnish affiliate, the Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF), in welcoming the verdict as an example to be followed by other European countries to fight online defamation of journalists. The case sees as protagonist Jessikka Aro, a Finnish journalist investigating how pro-Russia disinformation is spread in Finland through social media and websites believed to be linked…

The Steering Committee of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today expressed solidarity with Italian journalists affected by the sale of the magazine “Panorama” by the big publishing company Mondadori. Anna del Freo, EFJ Steering Committee member and deputy General Secretary of the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), was invited at the occasion of the trade union assembly to assist her colleagues, whose working conditions will seriously be deteriorated. Mondadori’s recent decision to sell Panorama to La Verità will force the 24 journalists working for the magazine to accept the cut of their salary by 45%. This was their only choice – the alternative was…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)  has joined its Russian affiliate, RUJ, in condemning the record fine imposed on 26th October by a Moscow court against the Russian independent news website The New Times. Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court imposed fines of 22.250.000 rubles (EUR 300.000) against The New Times and 30.000 rubles (EUR 400) against the website’s editor, Yevgenia Albats, for allegedly failing to comply with financial reporting obligations under Russia’s controversial “foreign agents” law. In an interview with RFE/RL, Yevgenia Albats said she believed the court decision was intended to punish her for an interview she conducted on the…

On 18 and 19 October in Belgrade, programme directors and editors’ in chief discussed with members of  the EFJ Broadcasting Expert Group how to best implement code of conducts and editorial guidelines for Public Service Media in Western Balkans. The workshop was implemented by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and is part of a two-year project “Technical Assistance to Public Service Media in the Western Balkan” led by the IFJ in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EFJ trainer Muriel Hanot, Director of the Belgian Press Council, gave a presentation about ethical standards in Belgium including the use…

Access Now, Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) and European Digital Rights (EDRi) just issued a joint report evaluating the work done by the EU institutions to tackle online disinformation. They found out a lack of evidence-based solution to address the problem and therefore  established a series of recommendations to be followed prior and after the adoption of the forthcoming EU Action Plan on the topic. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) supports these organisations in asking the EU and Member States to refrain from undue interference and censorship while addressing the issue of disinformation. “We urge the European Commission…

The EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez and trade union leaders from all over Europe today united in their demand for more workers’ participation and workplace democracy. They are calling on MEPs to improve the EU company law package currently going through the European Parliament to strengthen workers’ information, consultation and board-level representation in the new types of companies allowed by this legislation; MEPs to strengthen information to and consultation and representation of workers in the Draft Directive on restructuring and insolvency also going through the Parliament; the European Commission to publish its long-overdue revision of the European Works Council Directive…

The Authors’ Group is Europe’s leading Authors’ network representing more than 500,000 authors, including writers, literary translators, composers, songwriters, journalists, photographers, film/TV directors and screenwriters in Europe. The Authors’ Group consists of the following associations: European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA), European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), European Writers’ Council (EWC), Federation of European Film and TV Directors (FERA), and Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) Together with the EU Cultural and Creative Industries at large, the Authors’ Group strongly supports the successful adoption of the Copyright Directive. Along with over 130 professional organisations representing authors from the book, music, press and audio-visual…

In the frame of the EU tripartite negotiations on the Copyright Proposal, the IFJ and the EFJ call on EU institutions to stand up for journalism by safeguarding journalists’ fair and proportionate remuneration from the new neighboring right and strengthening the Proposal’s transparency provisions. Following the approval by the European Parliament on 12th September of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM) – a major step forward in protecting authors’ rights- EU institutions, namely the Council, the Parliament and the Commission, have now entered into their final phase of negotiations through a trilogue that should last until…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has published today a joint statement of findings from an international freedom of expression mission to Malta from 15-17 October 2018. The mission found that the Maltese authorities are not living up to their obligations to guarantee and safeguard freedom of expression and press freedom. The joint mission issued a set of recommendations. EFJ Steering Committee member and FNSI (Italian journalists’ union) deputy General Secretary, Anna del Freo travelled to Malta along with representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the International Press Institute…