Brussels Media Express
Association of European Journalists in Belgium (AEJ Belgium)
AEJ Belgium promotes critical journalism of the European Union, freedom of the press and support to EU correspondents.
Hey everyone,
To kick off the year, we are excited to bring you the first AEJ Belgium newsletter of 2025. With the holiday season coming to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the stories that defined 2024 and look ahead to the opportunities and challenges of this year.
In this edition, we share highlights from our recent event and updates on media freedom across Europe. We also invite you to join AEJ Belgium as a member to help us grow our projects and organise more engaging events on issues that matter to European journalists and correspondents in Brussels.
We wish you a very Happy New Year!
The AEJ Belgium Team
In this edition:
AEJ Belgium event: EU ombudsman calls for binding powers on public access to documents
Although her recommendations and decisions are not currently legally binding, outgoing European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has called for binding powers regarding access to documents. We support such demands, as they would greatly assist journalists who often encounter delays and significant redactions when filing freedom of information (FOI) requests.?
During our event on 20 November at the Brussels Press Club, O’Reilly talked about the lack of compliance of the European Commission when it comes to access to documents, while MEP Evin Incir and investigative journalist Lise Witteman raised concerns about a lack of transparency among the EU institutions.
“The default position should be that EU documents are publically accessible and only occasionally, for a well-justified reason, they are not,” O’Reilly said. “[But] This does not appear to be the approach favoured by the European Commission,” she added.
Read our article here.
EU media advocacy group updates
As part of our ongoing advocacy efforts, we, alongside several media and human rights organisations, trade unions, and technology companies, have co-signed a joint letter addressed to the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council.?
In this letter, we express our strong concerns about the recommendations made by the High-Level Group (HLG) on access to data for effective law enforcement. While we recognise the importance of effective law enforcement in the digital age, we warn against measures that could undermine fundamental rights such as privacy and the confidentiality of communications, potentially leading to mass surveillance.?
We call for the protection of essential security measures like encryption, which, if weakened, would pose significant risks to both individual safety and the broader digital ecosystem. Furthermore, we stress that any proposed data retention measures must adhere to the EU law’s principles of necessity and proportionality, ensuring that privacy rights are not compromised for the sake of broad surveillance.
SLAPP concerns
A recent report on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) “delivers bad news for journalists,” said Flutura Kusari from the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE).?
The document, published by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and CASE, found that 166 SLAPPs were initiated in 2023. Journalists remain the most likely targets of SLAPPs while the rich and powerful continue to be the predominant group initiating SLAPPs.
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The issue of SLAPPs is widespread in Europe. A notable number of these lawsuits were filed in Italy, Romania, Serbia and Turkey in 2023. CASE has now identified SLAPP lawsuits in 41 countries across Europe.?
"SLAPPs in Europe are on the rise, posing a significant threat to freedom of expression,” said Martina Urso from the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.?
There has been progress in preventing SLAPPs, with the EU adopting its Anti-SLAPP Directive and the Council of Europe adopting a recommendation on combating SLAPPs.
However, the report found that Member States must go beyond minimum requirements for there to be significant change. Together with the report authors, we are calling on policymakers, civil society, and media organisations to push for robust implementation of anti-SLAPP measures across Europe.?
How the Brusseleir dialect is alive and kicking, with a little help from Shakespeare
The Royal Shakespeare Society in Birmingham will soon be receiving an unusual gift, a hand-delivered manuscript by Belgian poetry translator and dramaturg Claude Lammens.
The original present is just one example of Lammens’ labour of love to perpetuate the Brusseleir dialect beyond the Belgian capital, where it continues to be spoken and performed.?
This is despite a widespread campaign in the postwar years to quash Belgium’s many local dialects, north and south of the country. Read our board member Julian Hale’s column here.
The 2024 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism winner: ‘Lost in Europe’
At the European Parliament in Strasbourg in October, a ceremony was held to present the winner of the 2024 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize. The consortium Lost in Europe won the award with their investigation; “More than 50,000 unaccompanied migrant children vanished in Europe in the past three years“.
AEJ Belgium is working to bring the staging of the play ‘They Blew Her Up’ back to Brussels to keep giving attention to the cause of journalists doing their work in dangerous circumstances and to highlight the work of the Daphne Foundation.
In that light, we presented our guest speakers at our recent event with a copy of the book by @Paul Caruana Galizia
photo with @Elena Sanchez (President AEJ Belgium) and @Laurent Brihay (Executive Director at Press Club Brussels Europe - Founder World Press Clubs Alliance for Climate)
January is a good month to support AEJ Belgium ????
AEJ Belgium wants to deliver value to its members by being a voice in debates and policymaking that concerns journalists, offering networking opportunities and helping young people who have recently entered the industry.
With AEJ Belgium’s activities in full swing, we kindly ask our members to keep supporting our work with membership contributions for 2024.?
For those who want to help but don’t know how, please visit our website or send us an email at [email protected] to receive all the info. You can also fill out a form here. We also have a new discounted membership for students!
*Note from the Treasurer - Membership Cards for 2025 are on the way!
The membership cards for 2025 are being printed as we speak!?All members will receive an email in the upcoming weeks and cards will be delivered by the end of this month.
Sphera Media Lab on January 23 in Brussels?
At the LaVallée coworking space in Brussels’ Molenbeek area, Sphera Media Lab will host “Independent Effect”, a celebration of the European independent media sector.
The day-long event will feature dedicated workshops, panels and networking sessions,? an insightful look into podcasts by Europod, and an interesting workshop on how media cooperatives can interact with their?audiences.
Discover, learn, grow: Five must-read articles (in case you missed them)