eu4journalists

National and regional EU info

3. Commission Representations

The European Commission maintains Representations in the capital of each member state, as well as in several other major cities in the EU. These local offices are mostly staffed by nationals of that country and their purpose is to help explain and promote EU activities. Each Representation will have a press officer who understands the specific needs of the country’s media. He or she will also have local knowledge of the country, so should be able to help you establish the issues of concern to your readers.

Details of Representations

Outside the EU, the Commission maintains Delegations in many countries, including candidate countries. These are mostly staffed by EU nationals, so their local knowledge may not be as comprehensive. But press officers in the Delegations will always be able to help you establish how a measure may affect the country concerned.

Commission Delegations outside EU countries

EU information centres

The Commission funds – wholly or partly – several networks of information centres throughout member states.

Europe Direct should answer a wide variety of questions about the European Union. It also gives ways forward to local sources of information: Europe Direct Information Relays act as an interface between EU and its citizens at local level; European Documentation Centres allow students and academics easy access to EU legislation and activity reports; and Team Europe is the Commission’s network of independent conference speakers.

Enterprise Europe Network consists of close to 600 partner organisations in more than 40 countries. It offers support and advice to businesses across Europe and helps them make the most of the opportunities in the European Union. The service is specifically designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) but is also available to all businesses, research centres and universities across Europe.

Most of these sources will only be useful for background information, and they tend to deal simply in the ‘black and white’ of adopted legislation and approved information materials. Many of their staff have years of experience, however, and will be able to provide you with details of upcoming measures (off the record).