The pan-European Co-operation Euranet – a new dimension in European communication

The European radio network Euranet is causing a stir in the European media scene! The pan-European media consortium – an amalgamation of international, national, regional and local European broadcasters – gives reporting in Europe a whole new dimension. Euranet provides information about events in Europe no longer just from a national perspective but rather from a transnational one. Euranet's aim is to set up better communication between European citizens and EU policy-makers, and so to respond to the expectations of the EUROPEAN COMMISSION and the 'White Paper on a European Communication Policy' launched by Margot Wallström in February 2006.

With its joint programmes and multi-lingual, interactive audio offerings, the new European network creates a sense of togetherness, improves European communication and further develops the much-debated European „public sphere“. This cross-border initiative is not only innovative, but also unique. It is potentially the key to solving European communication problems. The network of bilateral and multilateral co-operations with their new joint audio and online presence has fundamentally changed the European broadcasting scene. In addition to the current national media co-existence, the foundations have been laid for a pan-European co-operation.

Euranet’s joint broadcasts went on air at the beginning of April 2008.

Contents

1. How everything began...

2. Who participates?

3. How does Euranet function ?

4. Paneuropean programmes

5. R@dio Community

6. Euranet University Circle

7. Links

1. How everything began...

In response to the EUROPEAN COMMISSION's call of tender, Radio France (RFI), Deutsche Welle and 16 other international, national and regional, European radio stations from 13 EU countries joined forces to create a pan-European media consortium. This comprises both public and private broadcasters. The aim of the co-operation is to improve the quality of reporting on and from Europe, and to stimulate discussion about togetherness in Europe in order to promote a European general public sphere.

The official presentation of the European media consortium Euranet by Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission, took place on the 26th February 2008 in Brussels. As the commissioner responsible for institutional relations and communication strategy, Margot Wallström announced that Euranet would receive 5.8 million Euros in financial support from the European Commission over the first five years. Despite this support, the Commission guaranteed the broadcasters full editorial independence.

2. Who participates?

3. How does Euranet function ?

Throughout its existence, the Euranet consortium will be jointly-headed by two CEOs who will be in charge of the strategy and further development of the network. CEO Erlends Calabuig (RFI) is responsible for financial affairs, and CEO Petra Kohnen (DW) for editorial matters.

The broader make-up of the consortium includes:

Board of members

Management Committee

Editorial Committee

The Board of members consists of the Director-Generals of the member broadcasters. Alongside both CEOs, the Management Committee consists of managers from the participating stations in Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, each elected for one year, who are responsible for advertising strategies, Internet presence as well as transmission and frequencies. The Editorial Committee is made up of editors and chief editors for each respective broadcast language.

In detail:

Further broadcasters from the 27 EU states are to be integrated in the network by 2013. They will be able to join as long as they meet the consortium’s standards.

4. Paneuropean programmes

Euranet reports on cultural, social, economic and political events in the EU from a pan-European perspective. The programmes made by Europeans for Europeans enjoy a daily air-time of between 30 and 60 minutes. These are broadcast at prime-time and are re-broadcast several times.

• News: Important daily information about newsworthy events in Europe.
• Current Affairs: Daily reports about politics, economics and society.
• Magazines: Daily in-depth background features from a pan-European perspective on cultural, social, economic and political events across Europe.
• Dossiers: Devoted coverage appearing several times a year in all languages focussing on topics ranging from immigration to energy and the environment through to lifestyle.
• Live: Live coverage of special events in Europe 3 to 4 times a year.

Affiliated radio stations deliver individual programme elements in their respective language, for example reports, reportages, interviews etc., for individual programming, which then form part of joint European programming and are broadcast and re-broadcast by the respective partners. The network produces around 110,000 minutes of programmes each year. All the programme elements are broadcast on the existing frequencies of participating stations.

In the first year, Euranet programmes will be broadcast in the five main languages – German, English, French, Polish and Spanish. The Euranet programmes in Bulgarian, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian and Hungarian are mainly broadcast in the magazine and dossier formats. Euranet aims to be broadcasting in all 23 official EU languages by 2012.

The broadcasters concerned presently have between 12 and 19 million listeners per day in Europe and 30 million more worldwide.

5. R@dio Community

The joint Internet presence of the „Euranet Radio Community“ went online in July 2008 at www.euranet.eu .

In the sections „Today", "Themes", "About us", "Have your say”, users are presented with current affairs from around Europe as well as background reports on special topics and the top stories in Europe as decided by the affiliated stations. This content will initially appear in the five main languages (French, English, German, Polish and Spanish).

In addition, there are also the live streaming services of the individual radio programmes as well as Audio-On-Demand and Podcasts to download. Each individual Euranet radio programme can be heard live or on demand in each of the five languages. At the end of September 2008, the Euranet online content will be expanded to include further multimedia services; first and foremost the Radio Community. Euranet listeners and Internet users will be able discuss certain topics in a variety of ways and contribute to the content of the Euranet site as a whole. This is meant to further promote multi-lingual dialogue and the exchange of opinions about European topics.

5. Euranet University Circle

A European University Circle was created in order to support the innovative radio and internet content. Within this project, journalism and/or foreign language students have the opportunity to use Euranet programmes as learning material. Additionally, students from participating universities provide the programme-makers with feedback and suggestions concerning Euranet broadcasts.

The following universities participate in the project: Cambridge University, Roosevelt Academy university college Middelburg, IHECS in Brussels, RWTH Aachen, Tampere University in Finland, Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and the University of Wroclaw in Poland.

In addition to the participating radio stations, Euranet programmes are also re-broadcast by several campus radio stations. The local partner stations are associated members of the consortium.

The partner broadcasters are:

6. Links