European press service
Partner for journalists and representatives of the press.
• Chances. Perspectives. Developments.

The daily work of press photographers and journalists working across Europe is generally rewarding, but can also be very problematic. Internet & co can of course be a boon for representatives of the press, but a high level of pressure can be caused by it. The enormous speed of the World Wide Web allows (filing) deadlines to melt into each other, with the next deadline already waiting. The ECJ supports journalists with negotiation guidelines to get your bearings more easily in the diversity of the European Union: What kind of support and information can journalists expect from the EU? Are the EU press services even accessible for local and national journalists, and if so, on what conditions? What are the current reforms and who publishes details of them? What is involved with an authoritative quote? Answers to these and many other questions are available to ECJ members in the perso-nal member's area.


ECJ members will find valuable insider tips in the member's area
• How you can easily take part in press meetings of the European Union...
• The best way to work with EU officials...
• What you can use to find EU sources within minutes...
• What happens if you misquote somebody...
• How to guarantee that EU spokespersons react to your calls...
• The secret of correct registration as a press representative...
• How to deal with official explanations...
• How to discover translation errors and use them for your own purposes...
• How to decode the EU bureaucratic language...
• How to elegantly launch a follow-up story...
• How to use the translation service for free...
• Why spokespersons for the EU Council prefer to remain anonymous...
• What the red button in the EU press room is all about...
• What special identification you receive as an official EU journalist...

Around 32,000 people work for the European Union, so it should not be too difficult to find somebody to help you in the course of your journalistic work. The problem: of the 32,000 people, around 98.5 % are not authorised to "officially" speak to members of the press. The vast majority of the rest are continuously busy travelling on one of the innumerable missions (business trips), or are not prepared to make statements to journalists. However, the ECJ gives representatives of the press decisive advantages.


Tip:

Journalists working outside of Brussels are supported by the EU in their planning with editorial content. In this way, journalists are automatically advised when the Commission, for example, issues a report on wind power initiatives. The journalist can immediately check whether this report on initiatives relates to his/her home region. In this way, the topic of wind power can be prepared from a region-specific viewpoint. Requirement for this ser-vice: an official EU press accreditation.

What you should know: as an accredited journalist you receive EU press information directly to your mail box - a multitude of (current) news, reports, statements, special publications and newsletters from various institutions and the Directorate-Generals of the European Commission.