The Council of the EU wants to invite influencers to cover the summits

This is according to Politico.

According to the publication, the Council of the EU has sent recommendations to the governments of member states regarding the involvement of influencers in covering events in Brussels.

The plan is to invite bloggers, YouTubers and TikTokers from July onwards. This applies to EU leaders’ summits and certain ministerial meetings.

The final decision on which content creators to invite will remain with the EU member states. At the same time, the Council of the EU’s recommendations state that influencers who have published views contrary to EU values should not be selected.

Furthermore, content creators must not have significant or long-standing commercial partnerships. The Council of the EU wishes to avoid situations where coverage of the summits is associated with major brands.

There are no plans to pay influencers for their participation in the programme. Furthermore, they must not be standing for political office or already holding such a position.

Selection criteria include having a significant social media following relative to the population of the country the influencer represents. Experience in creating political content, particularly about the European Union, is also desirable.

Normally, only accredited journalists are granted access to filming inside the Council of the EU building in Brussels. This new approach has raised concerns among journalists’ organisations: they believe that the presence of content creators could hinder reporters’ work.

The Council of the EU has stated that influencers will be accompanied at all times. They will also not be regarded as media representatives, particularly with regard to accreditation and access to media events.

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