Seven more News Agencies join The European Newsroom (ENR) of which AFP is a partner

The European Newsroom (enr) is pleased to welcome seven new members. Now, a total of 23 news agencies from Europe are involved in the new round of the cooperation project. The European Newsroom, initiated in 2022, aims to strengthen collaboration among agency journalists across Europe and to enhance coverage of EU-related subjects. The new additions are AMNA (Greece), ANP (Netherlands), CTK (Czech Republic), PAP (Poland), Lusa (Portugal), Ritzau (Denmark) and TT (Sweden).

Co-financed by the European Union, the European Newsroom operates from two locations in Brussels, situated at the Residence Palace and the Belga news agency. There are a total of 45 workstations available for correspondents from the participating agencies to use.

The new agencies joined the group of 16 existing members. The steering committee is formed by 6 of the existing members, including: dpa (Germany), AFP (France), ANSA (Italy), AGERPRES (Romania), HINA (Croatia), STA (Slovenia), in addition to TT (Sweden) as one of the newest members. Other members of the project include APA (Austria), ATA (Albania), Belga (Belgium), BTA (Bulgaria), EFE, Europa Press (both Spain), FENA (Bosnia-Herzegovina), MIA (North Macedonia), Tanjug (Serbia) and TASR (Slovakia).

The Ukrainian agency Ukrinform also participates in the European Newsroom through a Solidarity Partnership, which is funded by the European Commission.

“Agence France-Presse (AFP) is proud to share its expertise and experience to contribute to the success of this distinctive project involving agencies of various sizes from most European Union countries. When European agencies collaborate and support one another, they can generate more diverse content for all European citizens. As the President of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), I understand the significance and impact of such cooperative efforts.”, Fabrice Fries, AFP CEO.

Since its launch, the enr has become an important journalistic institution in Brussels. Its success is evident through numerous interviews conducted with prominent politicians, including German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Additionally, enr has accompanied Ursula von der Leyen on three occasions to Ukraine.

In 2024, the focus will also be on the European elections in June. The European Newsroom will produce exclusive multimedia content for the event, leveraging the project’s pan-European scope to its advantage.

In the upcoming weeks and months, new formats such as social media videos, high-quality video content and newsletters will be added to the portfolio. The push for more multimedia content aims to attract individuals who primarily consume news through social media platforms and video formats.

With the inclusion of additional agencies, enr will now provide media outlets and readers access to content in 22 languages, allowing them to gain insights into the impact of EU policies across different European countries. The participating agencies distribute enr content to media outlets in their respective countries through their own local services. In addition, the extensive events and training programme of the enr is dedicated to significant topics such as artificial intelligence, deep fakes and mobile reporting.

The European Newsroom regularly opens its doors to interested parties - including a delegation group from the European Parliament or young European journalists wanting to gain insight into the work of the enr.