The Freelance Expert Group (FREG) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) agreed at its latest meeting in Brussels (26/02/2015) to reinforce its campaign to improve the social and professional status of freelance journalists in Europe. The EFJ experts reached an agreement on two major issues: All freelance journalists are journalists and have the right to be member of a trade union or professional association. They have the right to be represented and defended by the organization of their choice. This may seem to be an obvious fact but in several European countries – such as EU member states Greece and…

The growing trend of legal restrictions on journalists and media in Europe is an issue of concern raised in a meeting today (26/02/2015) with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The EFJ presented an exclusive survey on the legal restrictions facing journalists and media. The discussion showed that journalists are most concerned by laws on data retention, protections of sources, anti-terrorism laws, privacy and defamation. The EFJ and its affiliates expressed concerns that such trend of legal restrictions is growing in the climate of fear…

The European Federation of Journalists welcomes today the adoption of a report on the Protection of Media Freedom in Europe by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) but warns about the worrying trends on press freedom in Europe. “Although we welcome the adoption of the report, it highlighted again the worrying trends in Europe on press freedom particularly in countries where serious cases of press freedom violations are prominent,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård. “Countries highlighted in the report including Azerbaijan, Hungary, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine should step up their efforts in improving their press freedom records.” emphasised…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption of a new resolution by the European Parliament on freedom of expression in Turkey. The resolution adopted (551 votes in favour, 11 against and 31 abstentions) by members of the European Parliament (MEP) condemned the police raids on 14 December 2014 against Zaman newspaper and Samanyolu TV and the detention of a number of journalists and media representatives in Turkey. They recalled that a free and pluralistic press is the core of a democratic system and stressed that judicial independence was not respected in the country.”The government’s response to the allegations…

The European Federation of Journalists attended the conference “Je suis Charlie-Media Freedom in the EU and South Eastern Europe” at the European Parliament. Hosted by Ulrike LUNACEK, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Green Party, in cooperation with the Italian based Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso (OBC) the meeting discussed threats on media freedom, in particular within the context of the project “safety net for European journalists presented by OBC. Tanja FAJON, Member of the European Parliament, warned about excessive security measures taken by European governments after the Charlie Hebdo’s attack. “In this moment, the government’s responsibility is to strengthen solidarity and…

The Dutch freelance journalist Mehmet Ülger has been acquitted today by the Turkish court. Ülger was detained at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on January 7 while trying to leave Turkey. He was later released. Ülger was told that he had been held in connection to his presence at the September 2013 trial of then imprisoned Turkish-Dutch journalist Füsun Erdoğan. Ülger had his cell phone with him in the court room at Erdoğan’s trial and reportedly took photos on his phone. Ülger attended the trial as an observer for the NVJ. Mehmet Ülger could have been sentenced to six months in prison. “I hope…

Wednesday, 7 January 2015 is the darkest day in journalism in Europe. The brutal attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris was also an attack on all of us. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, friends and colleagues. It is hard to believe that such a horror could happen in Europe. The attack confirms that we must continue to safeguard and defend freedom of expression and press freedom as the fundamental pillars of our democracy. This was a direct attack on our freedom and the fundamental values that we hold dearly in our societies. The attack…

The EFJ has today welcomed in Brussels a delegation composed from the Turkish Publishers Association, the Swedish Publishers’ Association, the International Publishers Association and EMHRN. The working group’s agenda was focused on the legal framework in terms of freedom to publish in Europe, examples of restrictions and bans in the EU countries, the experience of European organizations in terms of freedom to publish in the context of the Western Balkans enlargement. The working group compared strategies, discussed concrete examples of advocacy tactics and ways to monitor the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice…

The Swiss journalist and writer, Roman Berger, recalled his journey to Moscow at the EFJ Annual Meeting and the struggle for journalists and their unions to be independent in a country like Russia where the state controls everything. “Moscow is not a media desert with only pro-government media” – this is Berger’s conclusion. By Roman Berger   The delegate from Estonia has summed up the reason of his presence at the EFJ Annual Meeting: “Only when I found out after my research that the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) is a critical organisation, my union was willing to send me…

(Brussels, 28 November 2014) The First Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Frans Timmermans, has told a delegation from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) that sustaining quality journalism and putting Europe’s media freedom back on track will be high on his agenda. Mr Timmermans, the First Vice-President who is also the EU Commissioner in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights highlighted that the financial crisis in the European media industry is affecting journalists’ rights, jobs and journalism as a public good. “Preserving reliable and quality information is an existential question for…

  table.mcnFollowContent {width:100% !important;} table.mcnShareContent {width:100% !important;}     Having trouble viewing this email? View this email in your browser Share Tweet Forward to Friend 13 October 2014 EDITORIAL When Governments are Losing Touch with Civil Society  As EFJ President, I was present at the International Governance Forum (IGF) in Istanbul at beginning of September in a global debate focusing on the development of the digital world and its impact issues most concerning journalists such as press freedom, protection of sources, safety and free access to information. During the discussion, a representative from Tunisia expressed framed in my view one of…

The importance of cooperation between freelancers across borders in Europe has increased over the years. Colleagues inspire each other; union workers share ideas and experiences. Contracts and fees, training, authors’ rights, and professional standards are all key issues for the growing – and ever more precarious- freelance community of journalists. Innovative financing models, which can give freelance journalists new possibilities/niches in media, are being explored by the EFJ and its affiliates. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Authors’ Rights Expert Group (AREG) and the Freelance Experts’ Group (FREG) strive to defend and to promote freelance rights. We say to our…

AS ELECTED IN JUNE 2022, IZMIR (TURKEY) and UPDATED ON 8 JUNE 2023   PRESIDENT     Maja SEVER Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (TUCJ), Croatia @SeverMaja   VICE-PRESIDENT   Mustafa KULELI Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), Turkey @MKuleli SC MEMBERS Andrea ROTH  Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV), Germany @AndreaRoth22 Anna DEL FREO Italian National Press Federation (FNSI), Italy    @Anna_DelFreo   Pablo AIQUEL SNJ-CGT, France @pablo_aiquel Marta Barcenilla FSC-CCOO, Spain @martabarce Allan BOYE THULSTRUP Danish Union of Journalists (DJ), Denmark @ABThulstrup Martine SIMONIS Association des journalistes professionnels (AJP), Belgium @SimonisMartine   Sergiy TOMILENKO National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Ukraine…

The struggle to deal with the downside of globalisation is a challenge to journalists’ unions everywhere. Media staff, like the workforce in every other sector of the world economy, are under pressure from voracious employers who are cutting editorial budgets, slashing jobs and undermining trade union organisations. In Europe, the labour rights of journalists continue to face threats from an increasing deregulated market and austerity measures. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has established the Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) to develop strategies and provide tools for EFJ members to create strong trade unions and to negotiate collective agreement. LAREG…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320.000 journalists. We have 77 members in the following 45 countries: Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Faroe Islands (DK) Finland France Georgia Germany Great Britain Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Montenegro The Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Applicants for Membership

EFJ Manifesto The EFJ Manifesto presents 10 points for a better journalism. More than 50 elected MEP’s have signed it. (Read More) Turkey : Set Journalists Free In 2010, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched an international campaign to set free all journalists in Turkey. (Read More)   Women’s Reporting Point Many journalists get attacked because of their profession. But female journalists often have to face different forms of violence than men: threats of rape or sexual and abusive comments are gender-based and hit women more often. The EFJ together with ECPMF has launched an alarm centre for female media workers,…