To the attention of:  EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Ms Federica Mogherini,  EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr Johannes Hahn,  We, the undersigned organisations, urge the addressed European Union (EU) officials to discuss Turkey’s freedom of expression crisis and fractured rule of law during their high level political dialogue with the Turkish government on 22 November 2018.  More than 160 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey today, with hundreds more on trial for exercising their right to freedom of expression. In 2018, the World Press Freedom Index…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the vote of the EU Legal Affairs Committee for an EU-wide protection and support for whistleblowers. Today, Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee MEPs approved draft legislation to guarantee that whistleblowers in the EU can report breaches of EU law in the area of tax evasion, corruption, environmental protection and public health and safety, without fear of retaliation or intimidation. MEPs agreed that the same protection measures must also apply to those assisting the reporting person, including journalists. The text was adopted by 22 votes to none against, with 1 abstention. Proposals to set up safe mechanisms…

On behalf of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), EFJ (the European Federation of Journalists), EMMA (European Magazine Media Association), ENPA (the European Newspaper Association) and NME (News Media Europe), we would like to strongly encourage the Members of the European Parliament and the Council representatives to ensure that the proposed directive on the protection of whistleblowers, which is currently being negotiated in both institutions, guarantees a robust protection for persons choosing to turn to the media to report unlawful or wrongful acts. The draft directive, as proposed by the European Commission in April 2018, falls short when it comes to…

IFJ and EFJ leaders came under a tear gas attack today after Israeli soldiers fired on a peaceful assembly demanding the right to freedom of movement for Palestinian journalists, in Ramallah. The European Federation of Journalists joins IFJ in demanding answer after Israeli attack. One member of the IFJ’s Executive Committee was injured after being hit on the shoulder and many others were left choking after the attack. In an open letter to the Israeli Prime Minister, the IFJ – whose Executive Committee is meeting in Ramallah – has demanded an urgent response to the unprovoked attack on the peaceful…

On November 14, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) issued the final report on its ad hoc fact-finding mission concerning the situation in Malta and Slovakia, which has uncovered a worrying condition for free press in both countries. The mission took place on 17-20 September 2018, following the murders of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak – killed together with his fiancée. The MEPs exchanged views with journalists, officials, NGOs and representatives of the victims’ families. The mission was recommended by the new monitoring group on rule of law and the…

On 17 April 2018, the European Commission presented the proposal for a Regulation on European production and preservation orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters (COM(2018) 225 final). The European Commission’s proposal aims at providing judicial authorities in European Member States with a tool to request the production or preservation of electronic data stored in a different Member State via production and/or preservation orders needed for investigation and prosecution purposes in crimes identified by the proposal. The proposal would allow the competent authorities in the issuing Member State to directly approach service providers based in an EU Member State to…