In a press release published on Tuesday 31 August, the International Press Association (API-IPA) spoke out in the strongest possible terms against the announced introduction of a charge of €50 to be borne by employers for any Belgian national or individual residing in Belgium who is subjected to a security control carried out by the Belgian authorities.
This charge was introduced in a new Belgian law that entered into force on 1 June, bringing in a requirement for a payable six-month security accreditation to be able to attend European summits, for instance.
API-IPA's opinion is quite clear: this new law, which was introduced “without any warning”, is an “unnecessary obstacle to the work of journalists and will restrict media access to events of great public interest”. Therefore, the organisation, joined by several Belgian press associations (VVJ and AJP), calls directly on the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, to abandon the law.
It considers the new charge to be discriminatory, for three reasons. Firstly, it applies only to Belgian citizens or persons residing in Belgium. Secondly, freelance journalists must pay the charge, unlike media employees. Finally, it may have repercussions for smaller media, which maybe less in a position to cover EU summits as well as previously, unlike those with more resources.
The case of the media in the Balkans
The measure will hit media from low-income states particularly hard. Tanja Milevska of the Macedonian News Agency took to Twitter to ask what correspondents from poorer countries who earn far less than their Western counterparts were supposed to do.
When contacted by EUROPE, the journalist explained that she particularly objects to the new charge as in 2007, the Commission scrapped technical aid (provision free of charge of filming and editing equipment) to support the audiovisual media of states applying to join the EU. This came as a tough blow to Macedonian journalists at the time, she said, particularly as the regime at the time showed signs of sliding towards authoritarianism.
Commission disagreement
For its part, the European Commission does not seem to be a fan of the Belgian law. When questioned by journalists on Wednesday 1 July, the institution's spokesperson, Mina Andreeva, said that the institution did not like the new law, and that the Commission would never have introduced similar charges. She went on to say that it was possible to submit a complaint to the Commission, which would be examined within the given timeframe.
What the European treaties say
Readers may recall that article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union introduces a cross-cutting cause explicitly forbidding any discrimination on grounds of nationality.
As we were going to press, the Belgian authorities had not yet answered our questions. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)