With some 30,000 people working for the European Union institutions, surely it should not be too difficult to find someone to speak to about your story? But think again – probably 99% of these people are, technically speaking, not supposed to talk to the press. The rest could be too busy, away on ‘mission’ – something like a business trip – or are not prepared to comment on the subject matter of your story.
- EuroMed Info Centre
- EUROPA - Information sources and contacts
- European Union Resources - Berkley University
New on the beat
Some might say the difference between mediocre journalists and great ones is the pedigree of their contacts. Even if this is only true of EU journalists, anyone new on the beat – or trying to piece together a story from the far-reaches of this expanding Union – should find the following short cut to EU contacts very helpful.
For contacts and information on specific topics, choose a theme from the menu provided on the Euromed Info Centre website.
For a full list of the EC Delegations in MEDA countries click here.
Contacting EU institutions
If you do not have the name or number of a specific person to contact, or you need to visit one of the main institutions in person, take a look at the following address and contact information. NB. If you know the name of a contact, e-mail addresses generally follow the format given below.
| Main EU institutions | Contact information |
| The European Commission (alias ‘The Commission’) |
B-1049 Brussels Tel: +32 2 299 11 11 E-mail: name.surname@cec.eu.int Website: http://europa.eu.int/ |
| The European Parliament (alias ‘The Parliament’ or ‘EP’) |
Brussels: Rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels Tel: +32 2 284 21 11 E-mail: namesurname@europarl.eu.int Website: http://www.europarl.eu.int/ Luxembourg: Plateau du Kirchberg L-2929 Luxembourg Tel: +352 43 001 Strasbourg: Allée du Printemps F-67070 Strasbourg Tel: +33 3 88 17 40 01 |
| The Council of the European Union (alias ‘The Council’) |
Rue de la Loi 175 B-1048 Brussels Tel: +32 2 285 61 11 E-mail: press.office@consilium.eu.int Website: http://ue.eu.int/ |
| The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) (alias ‘Ecosoc’) |
Rue Belliard 99 B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 546 90 11 E-mail: name.surname@esc.eu.int Website: http://www.esc.eu.int/ |
| The Committee of the Regions (alias ‘CoR’) |
Rue Belliard 101 B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 282 22 11 E-mail: name.surname@cor.eu.int Website: http://www.cor.eu.int/ |
Contacting EU press offices
The following is a list of contact details for the EU institutions’ main press offices (see also ‘EU press services’ for explanations and ‘News sources on the EU’ for other organisations providing EU information).
| EU press offices | Contact information |
| The European Commission | Berlaymont Building Rue de la Loi 200 B-1049 Brussels Tel: +32 2 299 47 70 E-mail: press-pressroom-team@cec.eu.int EU accreditation service Mr Soldati Pier Tel: +32 2 299 01 70 E-mail: Pier.Soldati@cec.eu.int |
| The European Parliament | Brussels press room Rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels Tel: +32 2 284 21 11 Website: http://www.europarl.eu.int/ Entrance on Rue Vautier / PHS 0 A 23 Tel: +32 2 284 20 54 Fax: +32 2 284 90 82 Strasbourg info office Bâtiment Louise Weiss Allée du Printemps F-67070 Strasbourg Tel: +33 3 88 17 40 01 Fax: +33 3 88 17 51 84 Strasbourg press room Room / LOW N-1/201 Tel: +33 3 88 17 40 05 Fax: +33 3 88 76 36 09 |
| The Council of the European Union | Press room Rue de la Loi 175 B-1048 Brussels Tel: +32 (0)2 285 63 19 Fax: +32 (0)2 285 80 26 E-mail: press.office@consilium.eu.int Internet: http://ue.eu.int |
| The European Economic and Social Committee | Press room Rue Belliard 99 B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 546 93 96 Fax: +32 2 546 97 64 E-mail: press@esc.eu.int Website: http://www.esc.eu.int/ |
| The Committee of the Regions | Press room Rue Belliard 101 B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 282 21 55 E-mail: name.surname@cor.eu.int Website: http://www.cor.eu.int/ |
For a full list of the EC Delegations in MEDA countries click here.
Contacting other EU institutions
The European Union has five main institutions and numerous affiliated or consultative organisations, associations and smaller institutions. The following is a selection that could prove useful, in particular for journalists not located in Brussels.
| Other institutions, organisations, services | Contact information |
| Court of Justice of the European Communities | General contacts: Palais de la Cour de Justice Boulevard Konrad Adenauer Kirchberg L-2925 Luxembourg Tel: +352 4303 1 E-mail: div.int@curia.eu.int (interior division) Website: http://curia.europa.eu Head of Division Tel +352 4303 2582/2035 Fax +352 4303 2500 Unit France, Luxembourg Tel + 352 4303 3205/3315 Fax + 352 4303 2034 Unit Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia Tel + 352 4303 2170/3451 Fax +352 4303 3656 Unit Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia Tel + 352 4303 3127/3451 Fax +352 4303 3656 Unit Germany, Austria Tel + 352 4303 3255/3645 Fax + 352 4303 2734/3184 Unit Italy, Grece, Cyprus, publications Tel + 352 4303 2968/3441/3552 Fax + 352 4303 2674 Unit United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta Tel + 352 4303 3355/3366 Fax + 352 4303 2731 Unit Spain, Portugal Tel + 352 4303 3667/3442 Fax + 352 4303 2668 Unit Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia Tel + 352 4303 2793/3668 Fax + 352 4303 2053 Unit Hungary, Slovenia Tel + 352 4303 5499 Fax + 352 4303 2668 Communications Unit (events, photoarchive, multimedia) Tel + 352 4303 3684 Fax + 352 4303 2988 Email: section.communication@curia.eu.int |
| European Court of Auditors | General contacts: 12 rue Alcide De Gasperi L-1615 Luxembourg E-mail: name.surname@eca.eu.int Website: http://eca.europa.eu/ External relations Tel: +352 4398 45410 E-mail: press@eca.eu.int |
| European Central Bank | General contacts: Eurotower Kaiserstrasse 29 D-60311 Frankfurt am Main Germany Tel: +49 69 1344 0 E-mail: info@ecb.int Website: http://www.ecb.int/ Director of communication: Elisabeth Ardaillon-Poirier General contact point, publication requests: info@ecb.int Visitor requests: visit@ecb.int Tel +49 69 13 44 74 55 Fax +49 69 13 44 74 04 |
| European Ombudsman |
General contacts: Ave du Président Robert Schuman 1 B.P. 403 F-67001 Strasbourg France Tel: +33 3 88 17 23 13 E-mail: euro-ombudsman@europarl.eu.int Website: http://www.euro-ombudsman.eu.int/ Press officer Rosita Agnew Tel: +33 3 88 17 24 08 E-mail: ragnew@europarl.eu.int |
| European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) | General contact Rue Joseph II 30 B-1040 Brussels Fax: +32 2 296 90 63 E-mail: olaf-courrier@cec.eu.int Website: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/olaf/Alessandro Butticé Spokesman of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)For press enquiries: Communication, PR and Spokesman Unit Tel: +32 2 296 75 47 E-mail: olaf-press@cec.eu.int |
| Europe by Satellite (EbS) | Berlaymont Building 4/289 Tel. +32 2 295 11 73 Fax +32 2 299 93 01 Email : europe-by-satellite@cec.eu.int Website: http://ec.europa.eu/ebsHead of production sector Anthony O'Donnell Tel: +32 2 295 08 04Editor-in-chief Diederik Bangert Tel: +32 2 296 88 68 |
Spokespeople
Each of the EU institutions has a spokesperson or a team of spokespeople responsible for keeping the press informed on various policy areas and in different languages. To find out who to contact about specific issues, choose a ‘theme’ from the menu on this website.
Spokespeople are typically the only officials – apart from Commissioners and Director-Generals of services in the Commission – allowed to speak ‘on the record’ for the institutions.
| Main EU institutions | Spokespeople and contact information |
| The European Commission | Chief spokesperson: Françoise Le Bail Tel: +32 2 299 22 43 Commission spokespeople cover individual portfolios, and work directly with specific Commissioners. The press service also includes assistants, again organised by portfolios, who can be a useful point of contact for information, although cannot be quoted on the record. At weekends and public holidays there is always one spokesperson on call. The full list of spokespeople can be found on the Press and Communication DG website. |
| The European Parliament | President’s spokesperson: Jacques Nancy Tel: +32 2 284 24 85 (Brussels) Tel: +33 3 88 17 40 82 (Strasbourg) Email: jnancy@europarl.eu.int Deputy spokesperson: Hélène Lanvert Tel: +32 2 284 22 39 (Brussels) Tel: +33 3 88 17 45 20 (Strasbourg) Email: hlanvert@europarl.eu.int Parliament's team of press officers specialise in the fields covered by parliamentary committees. During plenary sessions, the same team work in the national languages. The team of press officers can be found on the Parliament website. |
| Political Groups | Spokespeople for the political groups: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) European United Left/Nordic Green Left (EUL/NGL) Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) Party of European Socialists (PES) Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) |
| The Council of the European Union | Head of press office: Dominique-Georges Marro Tel: +32 2 285 64 23 Spokesperson of the Secretary-General/High Representative (SG/HR) for common foreign and security policy: Cristina Gallach Tel: +32 2 285 64 67 |
| The European Economic and Social Committee | Press officers: Vasco de Oliveira Tel: +32 2 546 93 96 Christian Weger, Tel: +32 2 546 95 86 |
| The Committee of the Regions | Head of press unit: Laurent ThieulePress Officers: Dennis Abott Estelle Poidevin Simona Pilko General contacts: Tel: +32 2 282 21 55 |
Special interest and regional issues
In addition to the mainstream institutions covering the major issues of importance to EU citizens, there are a number of more specialised organisations catering for special European needs and interests.
On the ‘Who speaks for my country/region?’ page we provide a selection of organisations to contact for EU information with a regional – even local – spin.
The Commission also has spokespeople in its offices in national capitals. They often provide a good link between decisions taken in Brussels and the effects felt in member states. Their phone numbers can be found on the Commission’s website, in the virtual press room section.
Related information
Each of the EU institutions has a spokesperson who, in the case of the Commission, is backed up by a team of official spokespeople responsible for certain policy areas – i.e. health and consumer affairs, trade competition policy, transport, etc.
Generally speaking, the spokespeople are the only officials – apart from Commissioners and Directors-General (of Commission departments) in the Commission – allowed to speak ‘on the record’ on behalf of the institution.
- Europa web server
- Press and Communication DG (Europa)
- Commission press room on-line (on Europa)
- Europe by Satellite (EbS)
- Commission Mediatheque (on Europa)
- CORDIS press on-line
- Latest EU press releases (RAPID)