Sixteen news agencies are to operate a joint EU-funded “European Newsroom” from January 2022 that will put out information on the bloc and aspiring member states said officials, according to Euractiv.
“With this new step, we are reinforcing Europe’s information space, and increasing citizens’ access to quality information,” the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton told a European News Media Forum on Monday.
The agency alliance won a tender put out by the Commission, which is also working on a proposed Media Freedom Act for next year that Breton said aims to “ensure the integrity and independence of the EU media market”.
The combined initiative is led by Germany’s DPA and includes AFP, Spain’s EFE and Europapress agencies and the main agencies from other EU countries Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
News agencies from neighbouring non-EU countries Albania, Bosnia, North Macedonia and Serbia are also participating, according to a list from the European Commission.
The news hub will be located in Brussels and will be financed by the Commission of €1.76 million for 2022 and 2023.
“Most of these agencies will be together in one location where they will be able to share information on all European issues, jointly request interviews and publish part of this production on a dedicated website,” said AFP.