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European Fact-Checking Standards Network

EFCSN

The purpose of this Association is to uphold and promote the highest standards of fact-checking and promote media literacy for the public benefit.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Erik Marquardt (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Dec 2025 · General exchange; AgoraEU

Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – EU funding for external action

28 Nov 2025

European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), the association of European fact-checking organisations with 62 members from 36 countries, submits the following joint recommendation, as member of the EU Media Advocacy Group. This document reflects a consolidated contribution from organisations working inside and outside the EU, committed to strengthening media freedom, information integrity and democratic resilience in partner countries. While we welcome the ambition of the Global Europe instrument to reinforce the EUs geopolitical and development objectives, the current proposal does not adequately recognise or resource independent journalism, media freedom, and information integrity as essential pillars of EU external action. Our submission calls for the explicit recognition of journalism as democratic and critical infrastructure; dedicated and long-term funding for public-interest media and resilient information ecosystems; strengthened crisis-response mechanisms; robust transparency, oversight, and anti-capture safeguards; and the integration of public-interest digital infrastructure, blended finance, and journalist-safety mechanisms into the instrument. These recommendations aim to ensure that Global Europe delivers the level of ambition required to counter foreign information manipulation and interference, address the structural decline of independent media, and reinforce democratic governance, accountability, and sustainable development in partner countries. The recommendations provided therefore set out the amendments needed to ensure that Global Europe fully aligns with EU and international commitments, including the UN Pact for the Future, the OECD Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media, and the Paris Declaration on Multilateral Action for Information Integrity and Independent Media. The full submission is attached in text format for your consideration.
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Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – EU funding for cross-border education, training and solidarity, youth, media, culture, and creative sectors, values, and civil society

25 Nov 2025

Please find attached the full text of our submission on the AgoraEU programme, prepared jointly by the EU Media Advocacy Group of which the European Fact-Checking Standards Network, the association of European fact-checkers representing 62 organisations from 36 countries, is part of. The document sets out our collective recommendations to ensure that AgoraEU delivers long-term, scalable, and systemic support for journalism and the wider public-interest information ecosystem. In line with the OECD Principles for Effective Support to Media, we call for dedicated multi-annual and core funding for independent, investigative, local, community, and cross-border media; robust editorial-independence safeguards; investment in public-interest digital infrastructure; and financial instruments that catalyse private capital without undermining editorial autonomy. The submission also emphasises the need to support the European fact-checking community as it provides an invaluable public service in the fight against disinformation. This is particularly important given the proposals priority of tackling fisinformation. We also highlight the importance of dedicated funding for journalistic safety, including legal and digital protection, emergency relocation, psychosocial support, and anti-SLAPP enforcement. The full submission with detailed recommendations is attached in pdf format for your consideration.
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Meeting with Marie-Helene Boulanger (Head of Unit Justice and Consumers) and EU DisinfoLab and

29 Apr 2025 · Consultation of civil society representatives in the context of the preparation of the upcoming European Democracy Shield (“focus group”)

Meeting with Thomas Schmitz (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen)

29 Apr 2025 · Media freedom

Meeting with Nathalie Loiseau (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

29 Apr 2025 · Lutte contre la désinformation

Meeting with Tomas Tobé (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

25 Mar 2025 · European Democracy Shield

Meeting with Anna Herold (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology)

23 Jan 2025 · Exchange of views in the context of preparatory work on draft guidelines on Article 18(1) European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) to be issued by the European Commission under Article 18(9) of the EMFA. Anna Herold was replaced by Audrius Perkauskas

Meeting with Daniel Braun (Cabinet of Vice-President Věra Jourová), Wojtek Talko (Cabinet of Vice-President Věra Jourová) and European Digital Media Observatory

17 May 2024 · elections

Meeting with Věra Jourová (Vice-President) and Reset Tech UK and HateAid gGmbH

10 May 2023 · Disinformation and foreign interference; Digital services act and the Code of practice