Europolitics () was a European affairs daily, founded in 1972 in Brussels. It served as an information tool for key stakeholders and professional observers of the European Union. Contexte bought the defunct newspaper and its website in 2015 but said it had no plans to revive the publication.
History
Europolitique (initially entitled European Report in English) was founded in November 1972 by journalists of AGRA, an agriculture press agency backed financially by French cereal and sugar-beet producers. The founders sought to develop a non-partisan European publication to compete with the only European medium existing at the time, the news bulletin of Agence Europe, which was considered a ‘semi-official journal’ "at the crossroads of professional journalism and the federalist political commitment". Europolitics was bought in 1977 by its Editor-in-Chief, Gérard Rousselot, and several of its journalists. In the early 1980s, it was acquired by Groupe Expansion, was taken over in 1994 by Havas and then absorbed by Vivendi in 1998. After two years of Belgian ownership (2003–2005), Europolitics was bought, on 1 October 2005, by the French group SIAC, a publisher specialized in agriculture and the food industry (which in the meantime had become the owner of AGRA). On 23 February 2006, Europolitics/Europolitque became a daily printed on A4 sheets, with a more reader-friendly layout and open to advertising and guest opinions. In terms of content, it striven to set itself apart from traditional newsletters, which rely on press releases, by giving precedence to anticipation, analysis and reflection.
Content
The mission of the newspaper was to keep decision makers informed from the earliest stages of draft directives and regulations in preparation or negotiation and on the unfolding of the whole decision-making process that resulted in European Union law. Its coverage focused on a range of institutions: the European Commission, Council of Ministers, European Parliament, European Court of Justice, European Central Bank, European Court of Auditors, Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, European Ombudsman, and European Data Protection Supervisor. It generally provided critical, thorough and objective analysis of European policies, decisions and initiatives.
Operations
It was an independent medium and it was sold exclusively by subscription - its only source of financing, apart from some carefully selected advertisements. Its multinational editorial staff practiced a non-partisan approach, rejecting all ideological, political or economic control.
Topics covered by Europolitics:
Policies, namely proposals in the development stage, negotiations and compromises that make up the everyday activity of joint decisions. Economics, finance, trade and social affairs, with details and insights into measures taken in common, sector by sector. Views and perspectives. Analyses beyond mere facts. Special features. Downloadable documents and useful web links. Interviews with experts and officials. Guest opinions, available for free at www.schumansquare.eu, the Europolitics forum. Weekly and daily agenda of the EU institutions’ activities.
Headings
Business and competitiveness
Finance, banks and insurance
Common policies
Social affairs
Economy, currency and taxation
EU institutions
Enlargement
Trade policy
External relations
Common security and defense policy
Number of issues
225 issues a year
Published five days a week (an average of 20 A4 pages a day), published Monday to Friday.
The print version is distributed every morning in Brussels by mail (delivery times in other countries vary according to distance). The printable version (PDF) is available the day before publication, at around 19.00.
20 special features a year (‘Insight’), included in the daily (e.g., The global water challenge - Airbus A400M - EU/US relations with Obama in office - Movers and shakers in Washington who count for the EU - Committee of the Regions turns 15 - Enlargement Five years on, ten years ahead - Gas and electricity: Third liberalisation package - Competition policy put to the test by the crisis - Atalanta: EU takes on pirates - Three heads for Europe - Aviation responds to climate change).
10 special editions (e.g., The Lisbon Treaty Here is what changes - The lessons of the Irish referendum - Europe tackles climate change - The European Parliament turns 50 - Europe of Security and Defence: New situation, new threats).