The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the European Parliament’s adoption of the new Creative Europe cultural programme on 19 May. This programme will support European cultural exchange with a budget of around 2.5 billion euros for the period 2021-27, a sum which is the EU’s biggest ever financial commitment to the culture and media sector. For the first time, news media and journalism will be supported as well. The Creative Europe programme will benefit from a financial envelope set at € 1 842 000 000 in current prices and an additional allocation of € 600 000 000 in 2018…

“Journalists are in the frontline in the fight against disinformation,” said yesterday Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency in the European Commission. “We are calling on Member States to ensure that they can work safely, in the right conditions, and to make the most of the EU recovery package to support media while respecting their independence.” Yesterday’s Commission communication on fight against COVID-19 disinformation includes a chapter on ensuring freedom of expression with strong messages on the importance of journalists, free and independent media, access to information, transparency and accountability. “The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the crucial role of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and eight leading international press freedom organizations representing the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists, gathered for a semi-annual meeting in Vienna, will conduct a brief solidarity visit to Bratislava, Slovakia on the afternoon of Thursday, December 6, 2018. The groups will highlight the need for further progress in the investigation into the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak. Representatives of the nine organizations will hold a meeting with Slovak government officials and conduct a solidarity visit to the offices of Aktuality.sk, where Jan Kuciak…

The Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 6 June, 2018 adopted a series of resolutions and declarations.   Resolutions & Declarations – 2018 (EN) Résolutions et déclarations – 2018 (FR) Welcome speech by EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard President speech – Steering Committee report   Photo Credit :  @sindikatmedija

Delegates of the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists, meeting in Lisbon, Portugal on June 6, 2018 have mandated the Steering Committee members of the EFJ to adopt an urgent motion on “threats against journalists in Ukraine” in order to put an end to climate of threats, violence and persecution against our colleagues in this country. Following the decision, the Steering Committee members have adopted on June 8, 2018 the following motion : The Annual Meeting of the EFJ, meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 6th, 2018, condemns the increasing verbal and online violence against journalists in Ukraine.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent a letter to Gernot Blümel, Austrian Minister for the European Union (EU), Art, Culture and Media on 7 June 2018 to urge him to support the Austrian public service media (ORF). The EFJ annual meeting, which took place yesterday in Lisbon with affiliates, journalists and trade unionists from around 40 countries, unanomously adopted the resolution “On the situation of Austrian public service media with letter to the Austrian governement” calling on the Austrian government to ensure the future of the public service media. We stand in solidarity with our Austrian affiliate the Union of…

A new report about journalists’ labour rights in Europe was published by the Labour Rights Experts Group Plus (LAREG+) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on May 2018. It contains national reports about journalists’ labour rights from the following countries: Albania: Without support for increased labour rights and protections for freedom of expression, trust in media cannot be increased. Bosnia & Herzegovina: It is believed that bad working conditions also affect the quality of journalism. If the pay were higher and working conditions were better, this would have a positive effect on journalism. Kosovo: Media owners should provide working…

On 2 November 2017, the EFJ Vice President Nadezda Azgikhina wrote a letter from Russia. The letter focused on fighting against hate and impunity towards journalists. Here, the EFJ publishes this letter: The first conference devoted to Impunity in Russia took place just before the Moscow IFJ Congress in 2007. It focused mainly on the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist murdered on 7 October 2006, and focused on other colleagues who were murdered too. For the first time, a list of deceased Russian journalists, prepared by Glasnost Defense Foundation, was presented to the international professional community. It consisted of…

Media freedom in Europe has reached a ”critical turning point” due to dramatic challenges faced by journalists, highlighted Patrick Penninckx, the Head of the Council of Europe Information Society Department in his key note speech at the EFJ Annual Meeting  on 18–19 May in Bucharest, Romania. Around 70 delegates and guests from 30 European countries attended the meeting entitled ‘Journalist under pressure’ and debated about key challenges facing journalists and their unions. The meeting, hosted by the EFJ affiliate in Romania, FAIR MediaSind, pointed out the lack of social dialogue in the media in Romania to guarantee decent working conditions for journalists…

Speech by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård (EFJ President) Ladies and Gentlemen – distinguished delegates, observers and guests! International solidarity among journalist unions and association is of huge importance as cross border activities in Europe are constantly increasing. Being in Sarajevo listening yesterday at the pre-meeting to the challenges and encouragement you have in Bosnia & Hercegovina, the Balkans, The South Eastern Europe, there is an inspiration of hope. You have the severe problems in collective bargaining, in getting journalists to understand at all, that they have rights, but it is impressive to understand how meet this. After several conferences in this region of…

On 19 November, the EFJ organised its biannual Freelance Experts’ Group (FREG) meeting, in which participants from 8 European countries discussed EFJ activities, national developments regarding freelance activities and ideas for the  future working programme to be adopted by next year’s EFJ General Meeting. Below is a snap shot of the main topics debated by the participants. EFJ issues & activities Results of the survey “Mapping Freelance Journalists” : Please click HERE for more information. The Rights and Jobs in Journalism EFJ project debriefing : The Dublin Freelance conference on atypical workers, which was organised in September 2015 by the National union of…

A new survey launched by the European Federation of Journalists reveals the diversity of the freelancers’ professional situations and disparities of their labour rights’ protection in Europe. On 19th November, the EFJ had its biannual meeting with the Freelance Experts’ Group (FREG). Together, they discussed the results of the survey “Mapping Freelance Journalists” conducted since May by the EFJ to collect updated database regarding the social status of the freelance journalists and their representation in professional associations and unions in Europe. Thirty-three organisations from 28 countries have responded to the online questionnaire. The results reveal disturbing disparities between levels of freelancers…

The General Meeting (GM) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is held every three years. The GM is the governing body setting the general direction of the Federation and elected by delegates from member union and associations of the EFJ. Between the General Meetings, Annual Meetings (AM), take place every year according to the Belgian law for the federation to focus on a subject in line with the priorities of work of the EFJ. For more information on GM and AM, please refer to EFJ Rules. Annual Meeting 2014, Moscow Annual Meeting 2015, Montenegro General Meeting 2016, Sarajevo

The General Meeting (GM) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is held every three years. The GM is the governing body setting the general direction of the Federation and elected by delegates from member union and associations of the EFJ. Between the General Meetings, Annual Meetings (AM), take place every year according to the Belgian law for the federation to focus on a subject in line with the EFJ priorities of work. For more information on GM and AM, please refer to EFJ Rules.   General Meeting 2019, Tallinn Annual Meeting 2018, Lisbon Annual Meeting 2017, Bucharest General Meeting 2016,…

Editorial  “Medal” for Azerbaijan for being leading jailer of journalists Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, EFJ President As the host of the first European Games, Azerbaijan has certainly won the “medal”, even before the opening of the game, for its reputation as one of the leading jailers of journalists and its hostile treatments towards journalists and media. While local journalists are being put behind bars for their critical voices, many foreign journalists are barred from entering the country to report about the Games. The press freedom situation is at its worst on record when Azerbaijan ordered to shut down the office of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has welcomed the reopening of the Greek public service broadcaster, ERT on 11 June, the same date it was shut down two years ago in 2013 leaving 2600 people out of work. According to recent announcements made by the government, former ERT workers will be able to return to their jobs (except those who retired voluntarily at the time of the closure). It is estimated that around 1500 media workers will be rehired. However, it is not completely clear yet on what terms and conditions these workers will be hired. Marilena Katsimis, former General…