WRITTEN QUESTION E-1700/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Policy pursued by Euronews

Euronews is a television station which has been funded from the Community budget for several years. Certain remarks made on some programmes, however, have caused resentment among the public who after all finance the station through the budget as is the case with Greek citizens who hear the station constantly using the term Macedonia whenever it refers to FYROM. In addition, Euronews completely ignores most of the official languages of the EU, such as Greek, Danish, Finnish, Swedish etc and broadcasts no programmes in those languages. Neither are the station's viewing figures of any significance given the number of years it has been in operation and the fact that it has consistently received EU funding.

What is the total amount of EU funding received by Euronews (from the Community budget and other Community sources) since 1995? Why does that station use incorrect terminology to describe states such as FYROM, which both the UN and the EU have recognised with that very name and not as Macedonia? What are the station's viewing figures for the last five years? Are those figures satisfactory for a TV station which represents the Union's attempt to create a European information network to showcase the EU?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2001)

The Commission, at Parliament's instigation, concluded an agreement with EuroNews in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding for the production and broadcasting of audiovisual modules. The agreement was concluded for three years.

EuroNews is a semi-public pan-European news channel broadcasting in six languages. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has a majority holding in the company controlling the channel (51 %); the rest is owned by Independent Television News Limited (ITN).

EuroNews wishes to become financially profitable, and in general its projects are undertaken on that basis. The languages covered by the channel (currently English, French, German,

Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) are based on the potential audience targeted by the station and on costs. The audience depends on the agreements concluded by EuroNews with terrestrial broadcasters (usually public stations such as FR3, TVE, etc., which broadcast some of its programmes), on the distributors (cable or other) and on the satellite receivers. The Commission is naturally in favour of the broadest possible coverage of Union languages, but it cannot sustain the costs that would be involved.

The Commission financed the production and broadcasting of the audiovisual modules (spots, features, etc.) under three annual agreements. The overall duration of the modules is over 70 hours. Each module has been broadcast several times. Each module lasts between 2 minutes 15 seconds and 13 minutes. The total cost is 25 550 000. The Commission contributed 9 700 000, the balance having been financed by the station. In practice, the Commission financing accounts for only a small part of the station's turnover. The modules concern European policies in general. News coverage is not included in this type of co-operation. It should be noted that, each year, Parliament's comments on budget lines B3-300 and B3-306 encourage the Commission to pursue its financing in this area.

The Commission has also noted that EuroNews has recently started to use the term Macedonia instead of the official name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and has written to the station about this. The station answered that the nameMacedoniais used instead of FYROM for journalistic reasons and EuroNews was late in adopting the practices of other media (newspapers or television stations). The agreements emphasise the total editorial independence of the station and the Commission adheres scrupulously to that principle. It does not intend to take any action to impose any editorial policy.

The channel is principally intended for public opinion multipliers, business circles and viewers with a high level of education. It has a large and valuable audience. A recent study carried out jointly by Parliament and the Commission showed that the audience reached is satisfactory in relation to the cost.

However, the Commission has decided, with Parliament's approval, to cease funding the station gradually over a three-year period.