The European Parliament in Malta has just issued a statement setting the record straight on the Ewropej campaign, also clarifying the objective of the media grant project and the ongoing importance of media freedom and editorial independence.

“The purpose is to reach citizens and explain how decisions taken by the European Parliament have a strong impact on their lives,” the statement issued this evening reads. “In line with all resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, media freedom is core to this tender. Participating media have the freedom to engage their audiences in line with their own editorial policies whilst respecting political balance and EU values.”

Tonight’s statement was issued following a complaint by PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba, who implied Lovin Malta could be benefitting from misused EU funds after this newsroom reported a statement by European Parliament President and MEP candidate Roberta Metsola, in which she criticised the government over a trade dispute at the University of Malta.

That article was (and still is) classified under the “Ewropej” category on Lovin Malta’s website, with an explanation provided at the end of the article about what this project consists of.

Ewropej is a reporting project involving both Lovin Malta and MaltaToday, who have received a joint EU grant to provide coverage related to the European Parliament ahead of this year’s MEP elections, so as to bring the EP’s work closer to the citizens of Malta.

Both newsrooms have committed to various forms of coverage, including written articles, social media posts, videos, and other initiatives that will be announced in due course.

Crucially, Lovin Malta and MaltaToday both have full editorial freedom and responsibility over their own separate Ewropej content. This means that nobody from Roberta Metsola’s team or the European Parliament had any involvement in our decision to cover her University of Malta statement.

And it’s this last, important point which has been yet again highlighted and outlined in tonight’s statement, which you can read in full below:

Media grant projects run by the European Parliament services aim to contribute to a wide public debate in view of the European Elections taking place in all EU member states in June this year in full respect of editorial independence of the participants.

The aim of the media grant projects  deployed in all Member States (for instance the ‘Ewropej’ project currently on Malta Today and LovinMalta) is to “contribute to a wide public debate and engage with citizens ahead of the forthcoming European Elections”. As outlined in the public call for tender, media actions in these projects are required to provide regular, reliable, pluralistic and non-partisan information related to the European elections and to the political and legislative work of the European Parliament.

The purpose is to reach citizens and explain how decisions taken by the European Parliament have a strong impact on their lives.

In line with all resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, media freedom is core to this tender. Participating media have the freedom to engage their audiences in line with their own editorial policies whilst respecting political balance and EU values.

The activities of the participating media are to observe general principles such as “transparency, non-discrimination, accuracy, pluralism and independence, including general principles of editorial independence and high journalistic standards in all respects, including quality standards as well as ethical standards”, and are to provide “multiple and plural viewpoints when implementing the action”.

Procedure

The European Parliament services do not influence or interfere in the editorial line of the projects awarded these media grants. Media projects across all the member states of the EU were awarded grants in a politically neutral manner and following a public call for applications, and based on selection criteria that were also made public.

Media also undertake to be independent of any public or private instruction, pressure or request – stemming, for example, from any EU institution, EU Member State or any other State or institution – in all matters concerning editorial choices (including content) concerning the action activities.

This action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament’s grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.