As EU Member States start discussing the proposed EU recovery plan, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ), along with 92 other European and international organisations in the cultural and creative sectors are calling for stronger measures to help the sectors recover. This call comes a month after the IFJ launched – with the support of Global Unions Federations – a Global Platform for Quality Journalism  to demand urgent measures to support the press sector and media professionals. Here is our joint statement: As the EU has started discussing the proposed recovery plan, 94 organisations from across Europe’s cultural and creative sectors are uniting their…

“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), representing 320,000 journalists across Europe, calls on national governments, the European Commission and the European Parliament to take rapid, targeted and coordinated action in support of all workers – staff, freelance and self-employed – and companies in response to the devastating social and economic impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on the media sector. COVID-19 is spawning a global press-freedom crackdown. In the face of this pandemic, European citizens need professional, economically secure journalists more than ever. The EU should take action and encourage its Member States to take action. EU and national emergency…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ), respectively the world and Europe’s largest journalists’ organisations, reiterate their calls on the EU to stand up for journalism and authors’ rights, as negotiations on a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market draw to an end. In this context, the IFJ and the EFJ recall that the key ambition for developing the legislation was to deliver on a fairer distribution of the revenues generated in the digital world. Extreme wealth generated online derives from the work of authors and creators, which is at the core of copyright licensing.  Their remuneration should…

UPDATE (15.11.18): the European Parliament voted in favour of the Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions. Find more information here. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today called on Members of the European Parliament to support the draft Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions to protect the rights of precarious workers across Europe. On 15th November 2018, the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive will be voted in the European Parliament.  The vote will determine whether the draft Directive can proceed to the next stage of the legislative process giving the European Parliament the mandate to negotiate on the position agreed…

Ahead of the copyright vote in European Parliament Plenary scheduled for 12 September, the EFJ (European Federation of Journalists), the IFJ (International Federation of Journalists), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association), ENPA (European Newspaper Publishers’ Association), EPC (European Publishers Council), NME (News Media Europe) – together representing the interests of tens of thousands of European news brands and journalists – jointly call on MEPs to maintain the wording on the publishers’ right (Article 11) as put forward by the Legal Affairs Committee. Article 11, as proposed by Legal Affairs Committee on 20 June, represent a major step in the debate: the…