THE SITUATION OF THE MEDIA IN THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES
AND IN RUSSIA
Seminar for journalists co-organised by the European Parliament and the European Commission
Tuesday 17 November & Wednesday 18 November 2015
Draft Programme
17 November 2015
European Parliament, Paul Henri Spaak building, room 4B001
09:30 – 09:45 Welcome and introduction
Yannis Darmis, Head of Media Services Unit, European Parliament
Claus Giering, Head of Unit for Communication, DG NEAR, European Commission
09:45 – 10:15 Official opening
Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR, Poland), Vice-President of the European Parliament (tbc)
Christian Danielsson, Director General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, European
Commission
10:15 – 11:15 Panel 1: The European Parliament’s role in supporting free media, free speech,
democracy and human rights
Moderator: EP official
Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland), Chair of EP Delegation to Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
Elena Valenciano (S&D, Spain), Chair of EP Subcommittee on Human Rights (tbc)
Eduard Kukan (EPP, Slovakia), EP Rapporteur on European Neighbourhood Policy
Questions & Answers
11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 Panel 2: Media freedom in the Eastern neighbourhood
Moderator: A representative of International Federation of Journalists (possibly from the
region?) (tbc)
Antanas Guoga (ALDE, Lithuania), Vice-Chair of EP Delegation to EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and
EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (tbc)
Andrejs MAMIKINS (S&D, Latvia), Vice-Chair of EP Delegation for relations with Belarus (tbc)
Andi Cristea (S&D, Romania), Chair of EP Delegation to EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation
Committee (tbc)
Boris Navasardsyan, Chairman Yerevan Press Club and member of Eastern Partnership Civil
Society Forum
Journalist, media, EaP country (tbc)
Questions & Answers
13:00 – 15:00 Lunch
Members' restaurant, Altiero Spinelli building, ground floor
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15:00 – 16:15 Panel 3: Misinformation and the role of independent media in Ukraine and Russia
Moderator: Oliver Money-Kyrle, International Federation of Journalists
Andrej Plenkovic (EPP, Croatia), Chair of EP Delegation for relations with Ukraine
Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria), Chair of EP Delegation to EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation
Committee (tbc)
Vygaudas Usackas, Head of the EU Delegation in Moscow, EEAS (tbc)
Journalist from Ukraine (tbc)
Journalist from Russia (tbc)
Questions & Answers
16:15 – 16:45 Projection of film ‘The Word and the Bullet’
Theme: Combatting impunity for killings of journalists in Dagestan
Introduced by Svetlana Svistunova, film director, and Nadezda Azhgikhina, Secretary of
Russian Union of Journalists
16:45 – 18:30 Guided tour (in English) through the EP’s audiovisual facilities // Parlamentarium //
Time for reporting
18:45
Dinner (keynote speech (tbc))
18 November 2015
European Parliament, Paul Henri Spaak building, room 4B001
9:30 – 10:45
Panel 4: The EU's Support to Democracy and Media Freedom
Vassilis Maragos, Regional Programmes Neighbourhood East, DG NEAR, European Commission
Somebody from EIDHR or FPI
Galina Arapova, Mass Media Defence Centre (EIDHR beneficiary)
Pietro Ducci, Acting Director, European Parliament Directorate General for External Relations (tbc)
Questions & Answers
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 12:30 Panel 5: A renewed ENP and strategic communication activities in the Eastern
Partnership countries and Russia
Simon Mordue, Director for Strategy and Turkey, DG NEAR, European Commission
Jerzy Pomianowski, Director of European Endowment for Democracy
Name tbc, Head of East Strategic Communication Team, EEAS (tbc)
Delegation representative
12:30 – 14:30 Lunch
Members' restaurant, Altiero Spinelli building, ground floor
14:30 – 16:00 Visit to Europe by Satellite (EbS), the EU's audiovisual information service // Time for
individual meetings/reporting
16:00
End of programme
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Background note
The European Parliament and the European Commission are holding a seminar for journalists over
two days on 17-18 November in Brussels titled "The situation of the media in the Eastern
Partnership countries and in Russia". The main aim is to discuss the challenges facing independent
journalists and media organisations in these countries and the role of the European institutions in
supporting press freedom, although broader questions of political, social and economic reform in
the region may also be explored.
At the seminar, journalists from the EU, Russia and Eastern Partnership countries will be able to
discuss the issues with MEPs, senior figures from the European Commission and specially invited
journalists from the countries in question. There will also be an opportunity to learn about the EU
institutions' audio-visual communication tools. The event is being organised by Parliament's DG
Communication in conjunction with the Commission.
The political context
Successive EU enlargements have drawn the countries of Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus
closer to the EU, which is increasingly affected by the security, stability and prosperity of those states.
The EU is seeking to build closer ties and promote economic and political reform in the region through
the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and more recently the Eastern Partnership (EaP).
The ENP, dating from 2004, was devised to avoid the emergence of new dividing lines between the
enlarged EU and its neighbours. Embracing ten Mediterranean countries as well as six east European
states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), it aims to promote democracy,
the rule of law, good governance, human rights, a market economy, free trade, sustainable
development and poverty reduction.
The ENP is chiefly a bilateral policy, comprising individual Action Plans between the EU and each ENP
partner that set out an agenda for political and economic reform. The main funding mechanism is
the European Neighbourhood Instrument (over 15 billion for 2014-2020).
The EaP, launched in May 2009, builds on the ENP but seeks a step-change in the EU's relations
with the six east European countries. It aims to pave the way for speedier political association and
further economic integration between the EU and the partner countries. The indicative budget for
the EaP between 2014 and 2017 is €741 million - €906 million.
New association agreements, including deep and comprehensive free trade agreements, are a key
feature of the EaP, which also adds to the ENP a multilateral dimension for the six states
concerned, including practical initiatives on border management, integration of electricity markets
and disaster response. The European institutions are now in the process of discussing a broad
reform of the ENP.
The European Parliament conducts bilateral relations with the parliaments of each EaP country
through inter-parliamentary delegations. A new body - the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly,
launched in May 2011 - provides a multilateral parliamentary dimension to the EaP. It consists of 60
MEPs and ten MPs from each of five eastern partners. Belarus has not been invited to send
representatives to Euronest owing to the political and human rights situation in the country.
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Parliament's support for media freedom and democratic values
Among issues of perennial concern in the EaP states are free speech, media freedom, democracy
and human rights. The EU regards all these as fundamental rights and the European Parliament has
voiced its support for them in numerous resolutions over the years. The EP has also awarded its
prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to campaigners in Belarus and Russia in
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recognition of their quest for freedom and human rights .
In addition, Parliament supports initiatives in this field by the European Endowment for Democracy
to help civil societies, NGOs and journalists from the region to achieve greater independence and
higher professional standards, including in the Russian language.
Contacts in the European Parliament
Ioannis Darmis 00 32 2 284 38 16
Jack Blackwell 00 32 2 284 29 29
Iris Walter 00 32 2 284 30 17
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2004: Belarusian Association of Journalists
2006: Aleksander Milinkevich, leader of the opposition in Belarus
2009: Memorial.
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