Tapping the EU's media slush fund; Kallas' view from nowhere

Euractiv

2 days ago

FOURTH ESTATE
When was the last time you watched Euronews? Be honest. If you're like us it was while channel surfing late one night at the Intercontinental in Sofia sometime in the twenty-tens after trying in vain to find CNN.
Like so many EU projects (see 'New European Bauhaus'), Euronews is the kind of undertaking that sounds like an interesting idea for a fleeting second until your prefrontal cortex (aka the rational part of the brain) kicks in.
While Euronews is not strictly speaking an EU project, it may as well be. Over the past decade alone (2014-2024), the Commission has shelled out more than €230 million for the broadcaster, according to our colleague Magnus Lund Nielsen, who crunched the numbers on the EU's media-funding racket for us.
If that seems like an obscene amount of public money for a channel few outside an Eastern European hotel room are likely to ever see, that's because it's an obscene amount of public money for a channel few outside an Eastern European hotel room are likely to ever see.
While there's been some grumbling in Brussels recently over Euronews' owners, who have links to Viktor Orbán, there's little reason to think the gravy train is going to halt anytime soon. We hear that Euronews, which did not respond to our requests for comment, recently put its hand out for even more money under the latest Commission media tender.
For reasons we've tried (and admittedly failed) to understand, the Commission is intent on funding an array of Euronews-like media outlets to the tune of €35 million a year that range from the superfluous to the outright useless. We suspect it has something to do with a desire to blunt the influence of 'Anglo-American' journalism on European affairs. If so, it's not working.
And yes, under its previous ownership, Euractiv was also addicted to EU funding. One could even argue it was central to the company's business model. But that was then. Both our new owner, Mediahuis, and the newsroom leadership are committed to preserving Euractiv's editorial independence and have halted the practice.
The Chattering Classes' view in a nutshell: Media can't claim independence if a government or public donor is an outlet's primary or even a major source of funding. The only model that ensures true independence is one governed by market forces, i.e. subscriptions and/or advertising. It's not always perfect, but it's certainly better than the alternative.
What's more, given that there are plenty of private media on the market – yes, we're talking our own book here – the impulse of the Commission to flush taxpayer money down that tubes by funding outlets that have little chance of survival without substantial public support is all the more vexing.
Behold The European Correspondent!
To fully appreciate the folly of the Commission's media-funding scheme, it's worth spending a few minutes on the site of The European Correspondent (not to be confused with the EU Reporter, the EUobserver, much less Euractiv!)
The site was founded by a group of Gen Z'ers in 2022 and reads like it, replete with a grandiloquent mission statement, which they refer to (inevitably) as their 'Manifesto'.
'In the 21st century, Europe must learn to be a continent,' it reads. 'Histories and destinies are interweaving, and power is renegotiated.'
Our favourite part: 'European journalism has not really been done before.'
While that may be news to anyone over the age of 25, it seems to have convinced the subsidy tsars in the Commission, who just wrote a cheque to The European Reporter to the tune of €2.2 million – money the outlet intends to use to 'expand into six new languages, grow our vertical video journalism, develop training programmes for European journalists, and much more'.
The face of The European Reporter is Julius E.O. Fintelmann, an earnest young German-born journalist best known for his pensive profile pictures and impressive turtleneck collection.
As The European Reporter's editor, E.O. Fintelmann will hold primary responsibility for ensuring that the €2.2 million is spent wisely. European taxpayers can expect that E.O. Fintelmann has the requisite experience to undertake such a mission and that it's a serious news organisation, right?
Decide for yourself. Prior to co-founding The European Reporter and inventing European journalism writ large, E.O. Fintelmann worked as a par-time freelancer for Germany's Handelsblatt from Istanbul.
'I work at the news desk and am responsible for steering the website on the weekends,' he wrote on his LinkedIn profile.
Prior to that, he wrote freelance articles on the German-speaking theatre and one piece for Germany's taz about the shortage of housing for students in Amsterdam, where he studied.
So far, The European Reporter's promise to invent European journalism appears to be stuck at the aspiration stage.
It began its flagship daily newsletter on Friday not with the latest from the European Council like the hidebound mainstream media, but with this bombshell about Winston Churchill: 'He's celebrated for leading Britain to victory during World War II, but he was also a firm supporter of the British Empire and held deeply racist views.'
Meanwhile, its 'European Affairs' newsletter dissected how unfairly US and Israel (which the authors accused of committing genocide) were treating Iran.
It also include this original insight: 'War in the Middle East risks driving up energy prices and inflation as oil and gas prices go up.'
To be fair, no one seemed more surprised by the Commission's decision to hand a motley collection of twenty-something, left-wing aspiring journalists €2.2 million than E.O. Fintelmann himself.
'I still can't quite believe I get to write this: The European Correspondent has secured funding that will support us for the next two years,' he wrote on LinkedIn.
Our advice: Enjoy it while it lasts.
FOREIGN POLICY
Just over half a year into her term as the EU's 'High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Securty Policy', Kaja Kallas has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the role is completely unnecessary.
It's not her fault anymore than it was the fault of her predecessors (except for Josep Borrell, whose gaffe-filled tenure is the stuff of diplomatic lore). The problem is a simple one: The high representative has less say in Europe's foreign policy than any of the foreign ministers of the EU-27.
And so long as important foreign policy decisions require an absolute majority (which gives smaller members a de facto veto they are unlikely to ever relinquish), that's not going to change. What that means in practice is that the high commissioner is often caught in the middle between two or more factions.
Take Gaza. After 18 EU members signed a letter calling for a review of Israel's compliance with human rights requirements under its trade deal with the EU, Kallas agreed to undertake a review. Yet many of the remaining nine members weren't happy with her decision.
'Kallas should have known from the beginning how far she could go with this,' a senior EU diplomat told us at last week's Council. The same diplomat added that after some member states 'scolded' Kallas, she toned down her rhetoric, saying last week that the review should not be perceived as 'punishing' Israel.
The Council is divided into three camps on the issue Israel and Gaza:
· The hardcore anti-Israel faction (Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia) · Germany, Italy, Czechia, Austria, which say Europe should not touch Israel · The moderates: Greece, Cyprus, Baltics, Poland, which support tougher language towards Israel but no action
That leaves Kallas in an impossible position. Her ostensible role is to craft a common position, but that is clearly not going to happen. Indeed, about the only thing one can say for sure is that Israel's allies in the Council will do whatever is necessary ensure that the association agreement is not suspended.
The Middle East is hardly the only foreign policy issue that divides the Council. There's no consensus on how to handle Trump or China either. Recent history suggests EU countries will go their own way, pursuing a path they deem the best for their national interests. That leaves very little room for 'EU foreign policy'. It's high time Europe acknowledges that reality.
THE CAROUSEL
Word is that Politico Europe veteran Cory Bennett, the outlet's energy and climate editor, is departing to join Bloomberg's Brussels bureau as a politics editor. Congrats!
CORRIGENDA
We misspelled Carrie Budoff Brown's surname in the last edition of The Chattering Classes. Mea culpa!
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