Using public funds to sway the public is not policy — it's propaganda

Euronews

a day ago

The latest Eurostat data on the media sector paints a mixed picture.
The number of authors, journalists, and linguists in the EU is going down, but the rate of publishers is growing significantly.
While the number of professionals dropped by 2.5% compared to 2022, publishing companies have grown by 9%.
Portugal's media companies saw the largest expansion, with a 7.3% increase, followed by Malta (7.1%), France (6.5%), and Bulgaria (3.6%).
France, however, remains—by far—the country with the most publishers: nearly 24,000.
Yet the country has lost around 13% of its media professionals since 2022.
New research conducted in 33 European countries shows that around 60% of journalists are experiencing burnout symptoms amid financial instability, administrative burdens, lack of social benefits, layoff fears, and concerns over the impact of AI on their profession.
There are now fewer than 870,000 workers in this field in the EU, including linguists and authors.
According to data, this is a particularly troubled time for freelancers, as 62% are forced to find other sources of income to make ends meet.
Some turn to public relations (37%), others to teaching (34%) or marketing (19%), according to the TikTok and Display Europe report. The report also shows that there are those resorting to alternatives like "bartending, real estate, and parcel delivery."
Despite this and the challenges faced by journalists, 65% of respondents believe they will still be employed in journalism in the next five years.
The situation extends far beyond the continent, as journalists aren't under pressure only in Europe. Another research, conducted in America in 2024 by Muck Rack, showed that 53% considered quitting due to exhaustion and burnout.
It is unclear whether the rise in new media companies has been substantially influenced by AI; however, the World Economic Forum, in its report "AI in Media, Entertainment and Sport", claims artificial intelligence has contributed to lowering market entry barriers like technical skills and investments in this sector.
At the same time, though, other studies suggest that some newsrooms are reluctant to adopt AI.
"Although businesses have made some advancements, the implementation of critical digital technologies, such as AI and Big Data, remains limited," says a studyby the University of Athens, which analysed countries like France, Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal.
Portugal, in particular, reported the sharpest fall in the number of journalists, authors,nd linguists in the Eurostat dataset: -28%.
The Netherlands also lost a significant portion: -17.1%, with Austria following close at -15.4%. On the other hand, numbers skyrocketed in Luxembourg (+67.6%), Latvia (+43.5%) and Lithuania (+24.1%).
In overall terms, Germany leads by far for the number of professionals, nearly 240,000 in the field, way ahead of second-placed France, with fewer than 93,000, followed by Spain (74,200), Italy (72,300), and Poland (69,600).
Last week, German outlet Welt am Sonntag uncovered a political scandal that cuts straight to the heart of the EU's democratic credibility.**
Leaked documents reveal that the European Commission quietly funnelled taxpayer money to environmental NGOs to fund lawsuits and orchestrated campaigns — not against polluters, but against private German companies.
The operation was carried out in the shadows, with Brussels bureaucrats and activist groups coordinating their moves behind closed doors.
The goal? Not policy. Not science. Politics. The documents suggest a deliberate effort to steer public opinion toward the EU's climate agenda and to manipulate elected members of the European Parliament. Millions of euros changed hands in the process.
It gets better. According to the report, Commission officials enlisted 'Friends of the Earth' to torpedo the EU–Mercosur free trade agreement — at the very moment other departments within the same institution were working to push the deal forward.
That's not strategy. That's sabotage — using public money.
When asked about all this, the Commission pleaded ignorance. A spokesman told Euronews: 'Contrary to media reports, there are no secret contracts between the Commission and NGOs.'
That is perfect. If the contracts aren't secret, let's see them. And if they're not published, they are secret. It's that simple.
The real scandal goes deeper. A growing number of NGOs have become political proxy armies — eager to be hired, eager to be used.
Some were founded for that purpose alone. At this point, it may be more honest to call them GOs: governmental organisations with a PR budget.
This isn't just bad optics. It's a constitutional problem. In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2022 that then-Chancellor Angela Merkel violated the Constitution when she publicly condemned the democratic election of a regional governor — and demanded that the result be 'reversed'.
Why? Because when the state intervenes in the political process, it ceases to be a neutral actor. And political neutrality of the state is a constitutional obligation.
This principle applies in Brussels too. EU institutions have no right to outsource political combat to organisations they bankroll — especially when they're funding attacks on private entities or seeking to influence legislation by stealth.
The Commission is bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. If it can't lawfully suppress dissent, it can't pay someone else to do it either. Financing NGOs for the purpose of bypassing those constraints undermines institutional balance and constitutes a misuse of public funds.
When the Commission attempts to indirectly implement political measures through NGOs, it breaches the rule-of-law obligation to act within the law, and may also violate fundamental rights of others — including freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the principle of equal treatment.
Using public funds to manipulate the public is not policy. It's propaganda.
Using the European Commission's institutional power to target companies or rig the political process isn't a strategy. It's abuse. And no amount of NGO window-dressing changes that.
If the Commission wants to defend democracy and fundamental rights, it should start by respecting both.
Joachim Nikolaus Steinhöfel is one of the most renowned German lawyers specialising in media law and free speech. In 2024, he won 16 out of 16 cases against the German government before the Federal Constitutional Court. He was the first lawyer ever to obtain a preliminary injunction against Facebook for deleting and blocking users. His book 'Die digitale Bevormundung' ("The Digital Paternalism"), published in 2024, was a national number one bestseller.
Bag checks, security cameras and gates will not solve the problem of violence at schools in France, a teachers' union representative told Euronews after a 14-year-old student allegedly stabbed a teaching assistant to death in the northeastern town of Nogent.
The boy stabbed the 31-year-old assistant several times during a bag check at Françoise Dolto School in Nogent, near Dijon, on Tuesday, regional authorities said.
A police officer involved in the checks suffered a minor injury when the student was arrested, the authorities said. The student is now being questioned by police, according to the Haute-Marne Prefecture. No motive has yet been established.
"We are deeply saddened. A whole community is in mourning, a whole country is in mourning," said Maxime Reppert, vice-president of the National Union of Secondary Schools and Higher Education (SNALC).
"Beyond the sadness, there is indignation and anger, because unfortunately this is not the first time that blood has been spilt in a school," he told Euronews.
Though deadly incidents in French schools are rare, there is growing concern about violence on campuses. The government introduced bag checks and vowed "stronger deterrence and stricter penalties" after a 17-year-old was fatally stabbed outside a college during a confrontation between rival gangs in the Essonne department in March.
Between late March and late May, 6,000 checks resulted in 186 knives being seized while 32 people were arrested, according to France's education ministry.
Yet Reppert said "we're not tackling the problem of youth violence with random searches, cameras or gates", calling instead for a focus on the mental health of young people, and education for the families of students.
"We are convinced that schools cannot do everything. We need to make families more responsible and help parents who need it", he added.
Reppert also said that authorities in France should not allow the age of a suspect to be used an "excuse" in cases of youth violence.
"We believe that a 15-year-old who has a weapon and commits a crime should be punished. He knows what he's doing at that age," he said.
"We need to make young people more responsible and we need to restore authority, the authority of adults, the authority of teachers", the trade unionist added.
Following the fatal stabbing in Nogent, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that the teaching assistant was "the victim of a senseless wave of violence".
"The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilised to reduce crime," he said.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told lawmakers on Tuesday that the government "intends to move towards experimenting with security gates at the entrance to schools".
"We cannot remain indifferent and watch this advancing wave with our arms lowered," he said.
Regional prosecutor Denis Devallois said the alleged suspect in the fatal stabbing on Tuesday did not have a police record. France's Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said the boy had been a student representative in the school's anti-bullying programme, and had been briefly suspended earlier this year for disrupting class.