Editorial Charter

1. GENERAL PROVISION

1.1 Euranet is a network (ERP Consortium) of existing professional media organisations whose employees operate under the principles of their own editorial charters. These guarantee high general standards in all respects of quality and editorial integrity.

1.2 The Euranet partners will be using their own and each others expertise, infrastructure, manpower, networks, ideas and inspiration to produce, broadcast and publish programmes and other editorial content in accordance with the terms specified in the ERP (European Radio Project) Consortium agreement.

1.3 When working for Euranet programmes, the partners and their employees will respect the following principle: The partners in the ERP and their employees will operate independently from any instruction, pressure or request from any EU institution (as defined by the Treaties), any EU member state or any other state or institution in all matters concerning the content of its EU services (the services and programmes on EU matters provided under the contract).

2. PROGRAMME CONTENT

2.1 Without prejudice to the generality of clause 4, the Contractor undertakes to provide and keep under review the EU services with a view to the maintenance of high general standards in all respects, and to their offering a wide range of topics, meeting the needs and interests of audiences, in accordance with the requirements as specified in the following paragraph.

2.2 The EU Services provided by Euranet and its partners

1. Aim at selecting, checking and dissimilating information about the EU;
2. Support and reflect cultural, national and regional diversity within the EU;
3. Contain comprehensive, authoritative, impartial and balanced coverage of news and current affairs in the EU and throughout the world (when having an EU dimension), as well as of informed debates at regional, national and EU level;
4. Contain background and explanatory programmes or topics;
5. Contain programmes or topics which focus on the impact of EU policies, decisions and actions on the lives of EU citizens and reflect the concerns of both regional, national and European audiences;
6. Will be distributed, structured, formatted and presented in such a way as to reach a biggest possible audience;

2.3 Euranet programmes shall present an impartial and professional account of proceedings of the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers of the EU, the European Councils, the European Commission and other EU Institutions and bodies, when deemed relevant by the editorial standards of its partners.

2.4 Without disregarding or neglecting the editorial commitments in paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3, the Euranet partners also aim at setting their own agenda and report on news, events and developments with respect to the European continent, the countries of Europe and the citizens of Europe, from a broad perspective. Citizens’ views and cultural expressions and topics of broad general interest in every respect will be a major source of inspiration for Euranet coverage of life in Europe.

3. OBJECTIVES FOR EU SERVICES

The ERP (Contractor) shall:

3.1 Publish on its website and make available to any inquiring party an annual statement of promises to audiences describing its EU Services, standards and objectives;

3.2 Report in reasonable detail on the performance of the contract in an annual report and publish on its websites an account of:

1. How the Contractor is meeting its published standards and objectives concerning the EU Services;
2. The editorial standards appropriate to EU services, the measures taken to ensure compliance with such standards and the extend to which the Contractor has complied with such standards;
3. The research and consultation undertaken during the year to ascertain the needs and interests of the audiences of EU services, together with a summary of the main findings;
4. The subject matter and handling of complaints from such audiences indicating the proportion that was upheld.

4. PROGRAMME STANDARDS

4.1 The ERP (Contractor) shall do all it can to ensure that all programmes broadcast or transmitted by or on behalf of, or under license from the Contractor as part of the EU services:

1. Provide a properly balanced service consisting of a wide range of topics;
2. Are broadcast or published at appropriate times;
3. Treat controversial subjects with due accuracy and impartiality;
4. Do not include anything that could offend the dignity of persons, encourage crime, violence, disorder, racial or religious prejudice or any other kind of discrimination;
5. Do not involve improper exploitation of any susceptibilities of audiences or any abusive treatment of religious views and beliefs;

4.2 The ERP (Contractor) shall:

1. Draw up and review every year a code giving guidance as to the rules to be observed in order to meet the standards in paragraph 4.1.
2. Ensure that the rules of the code indicate the requirements of due impartiality, either generally or in connection with specific programmes of its EU services, taking into account that due impartiality does not require absolute neutrality on every issue or detachment from fundamental democratic principles;
3. Do all it can to ensure that the provisions of the code shall be observed.

5. RESEARCH

5.1 The ERP (Contractor) shall initiate and undertake a research and development programme to ascertain the needs and interests of the audiences of its EU services.

6. ETHICS

6.1 The ERP (Contractor) shall not offer or give or agree to give to any person in the EU Institutions any gift or consideration of any kind as an inducement, or reward for doing or forbearing to do, or for having done or forborne to do, any act in relation to the obtaining or executing of this or any other contract or for showing of forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to this or any other contract or Convention.

6.2 Any breach of this condition by the Contractor or by anyone employed by the Contractor or acting on its behalf (whether with or without the knowledge of the Contractor) or the commission of any offence by the Contractor or by anyone employed by the Contractor or acting on its behalf in relation to this Contract might entitle the EU Commission, after an appropriate contradictory procedure, tot recover from the Contractor the amount of value of any such gift, consideration or commission.

6.3 The Euranet partners and their employees shall not accept or agree to accept any gift or consideration of any kind as an inducement, or reward, for any services provided under the contract, from any party.