By Martin Banks - 20th August 2010
This should primarily be done through better communication
EU Parliament source
MEPs have expressed concern at the declining number of accredited journalists in Brussels.
They say they find the trend "extremely worrying" and have advocated "supporting those currently in Brussels".
Brussels was once known to have the biggest press corps in the world, even outstripping that of Washington DC.
Several news organisations, however, have pulled their correspondents out of Brussels in recent months, partly as a result of the continuing economic downturn.
There is also a general feeling that their EU content can be adequately covered by head office, freelancers or via the ever-expanding electronic media.
However, some MEPs believe that fewer accredited journalist covering the EU from Brussels could result in a much lower new coverage for EU activities, including parliament.
The move has also concerned journalist unions, such as the International Federation of Journalists and the International Press Association.
They fear journalistic standards may drop as the number of reporters assigned to Brussels continues to decrease.
In an effort to address the problem, parliament says it would like to see a group formed among the Brussels press corps to help improve coverage of EU news.
While MEPs welcome the commission and parliament's training schemes for journalists on EU matters they have called for them to be extended.
At the same time they have proposed giving larger budgets and greater independence to parliament's information offices in member states in the field of communication.
MEPs say they believe parliament's internet television channel, Europe TV, "should be made more effective" while ensuring its editorial independence and making "its content as widely available as possible for TV channels and online media who wish to use it".
Improving communication would help bridge the democratic deficit, parliament said.
A parliament source said, "Although the Lisbon treaty gave parliament more power in EU decision-making citizens still see Europe as being too distant and having too little influence in solving their real problems.
"Declining voter turnout highlights the need to continue efforts to overcome the distance between the EU and European citizens.
"This should primarily be done through better communication."
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