On 9 October 2012 Margo Smit presented to the members of the European Parliamentary Committee for Budgetary Control a study on the state of investigative journalism in the 27 EU member states. The Committee had asked the Pascal Decroos Fund to execute the study.
BRUSSELS - On 9 October 2012 Margo Smit presented to the members of the European Parliamentary Committee for Budgetary Control a study on the state of investigative journalism in the 27 EU member states. The Committee had asked the Pascal Decroos Fund to coordinate the study.
The Committee for Budgetary Control of the European Parliament in 2011 held a bid for a study on the state of investigative journalism in the EU member states, particularly on fraud with EU funds. Three candidates applied and in the end it was the Pascal Decroos Fund who was assigned to do the study. Thanks to the familiarity with the working field and the insight in investigative journalism that we acquired through the years and the network of European journalists that we've built, we turned out to be the Committee's preferred partner. We asked Margo Smit, director of VVOJ, to execute the study.
Smit summarised the study through a PowerPoint presentation for the Committee members, staff, people from the Court of Auditors and journalists, all of whom listened with great interest. Afterwards, about ten questions and remarks followed.
After about an hour, Vice-President of the Committee for Budgetary Control and instigator of the study Bart Staes, closed the point on the agenda with a summary of the study's conclusions and recommendations for the European institutions:
- no turtling when journalists approach the EU
- transparency and freedom of information should be promoted, also within the institutions themselves
- facilitate access to data
- better protect whistle-blowers and journalistic sources
- it is important to support cross-border cooperations in different ways
