Newspaper publishers and President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso discuss the future of a sustainable, free and independent press sector

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Newspaper Publishers from across Europe represented in ENPA, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, discussed together with President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the future of a sustainable, free and independent press sector.


The ENPA delegation, lead by the ENPA President Valdo Lehari jr., drew the attention of the President to the current and urgent challenges of the newspaper sector which need an immediate and appropriate response from the EU institutions.

In order to achieve this objective and to maintain a pluralistic and diverse European media landscape EU decision-makers have to ensure that newspaper publishers can rely in the long term on advertising without further restrictions or bans and on fair competition with all market players, including search engines.

Newspaper publishers also expect prior authorisation and an appropriate remuneration from any third party using editorial content for commercial purpose. It is therefore of utmost importance that the European Commission will protect and defend the existing copyright framework. Strong copyright is essential for the future and survival of the press in Europe when publishers are at the forefront of the digital revolution in providing a recognised value of their content on all digital platforms.

Finally, publishers also expect from President Barroso to guarantee that the economic, legal and political conditions established in Europe to allow the promotion of new business models for newspaper publishers in the digital environment, including paid-for-offers on all platforms.

On 29 June 2010, ENPA, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, had a high level meeting with José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. A delegation of newspaper publishers from across Europe (see list in Annex) had an extended discussion with President Barroso on the future of the press sector in the coming years and on the orientations and priorities that need to be considered by EU decision makers for the next 5 to 10 years.

ENPA President Valdo Lehari Jr. stated: “This meeting between ENPA and President Barroso comes at a crucial moment and at a cross-roads for newspapers in Europe. Publishers are currently debating not only on the future of advertising revenues but also on how to monetize their content, notably in the digital environment. These reflections are particularly important and challenging at a time where the economic crisis, structural changes and the “free for all” tendency affect newspapers’ development.”

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, underlined: “Freedom of the media is a public good. Personally, I like to read newspapers as they are agenda setting, they have a role that no one can replace and are leading intellectually.”

President Barroso stated that the Commission is committed to a pluralistic society and freedom of the press and is very much aware of the role of newspapers in producing news and content. Furthermore he underlined that the European Commission is also committed to tapping the potential of the digital agenda. The potential of global demand in information and communication technologies is a market of 2000 billion Euros. The question is how European firms can get a bigger share in the battle for information and content

Among the different topics which have been discussed with President Barroso, ENPA would like to highlight in particular the following:

• Preservation of the newspapers’ democratic role and press freedom.

• Ensuring a better advertising market, without restrictions and bans and with fair competition among all players, including search engines.

• Preserving investment in editorial content through copyright protection and preventing “free riding” (news aggregators).

• The need to promote paid-for-offers towards the end-users and to change the “free for all” tendency.

• Finding a proper balance between all market players (public broadcasters, search engines, telecoms etc.) especially in the digital environment: the role of the EU digital agenda?

• Ensuring a coherent political message within the Commission among the different Directorate Generals

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURES OF THE MEETING

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The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) is an international association, defending and promoting the professional interests of the European newspaper publishing industry at different European and international organisations and institutions.

ENPA represents over 5,200 national, regional and local newspaper titles, published in 23 European Union Member States plus Norway and Switzerland. More than 150 million newspapers are sold and read by over 300 million Europeans every day, in addition to the tens of millions of unique daily visits to over 2,500 online newspapers’ websites.

Contact :
Sophie SCRIVE
sophie.scrive@enpa.be
ENPA - European Newspaper Publishers’ Association
Square du Bastion 1A, Bte 3
B-1050, Brussels, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)2 551 0190
Fax: +32 (0)2 551 01 99
www.enpa.be

Copyright pictures:
Caroline Quintero P.
Caroline.quintero@enpa.be

Click here for the contact details of the ENPA staff member.

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