Reporting Europe – Journalism in the EU’s Frontline Cities

The first day is about orientation — not just in geography or acronyms, but in the quiet mechanics of European power. You arrive in Brussels or Strasbourg with a notebook full of questions and a press badge that doesn’t yet open many doors. Around you: corridors of lawmaking, journalists on deadlines, and citizens who barely know what happens here.

We start by stripping back the labels. The Commission, the Parliament, the Council — not as institutions, but as sources, actors, and settings in the European story. What does each one actually do? How do decisions move? Who holds the pen — and who edits in the margins?

Through guided tours and live conversations with insiders, you begin to read the landscape. Not just what’s written on official agendas, but the unwritten rules of access, timing, and messaging.

In the afternoon, we sit down with seasoned Brussels correspondents — journalists who’ve covered treaty negotiations, walkouts, and midnight trilogues. They share what they wish they’d known starting out. How to avoid jargon. When to push. When to wait. And why European stories often live or die by how they’re framed.

By the end of the day, the EU no longer looks like a black box. It starts to feel like a beat — messy, complex, human. And it’s yours to explore. You leave the day seeing the EU not as a puzzle — but as a beat. Yours to own.

By day three, you’ve found your footing — just in time to step into the most elusive spaces of EU reporting.

The morning begins at the Commission’s press room. The flags are lined up, the podium gleams, the questions are sharp — and so are the boundaries. You learn how narratives are shaped from the top down. Who gets to ask? Who gets ignored? What happens when the real answers live off-camera?

You speak with press officers and communication advisors from major DGs. They walk you through what’s said, what’s spun, and what never leaves the room. You begin to see that access doesn’t mean clarity — it just gives you the right to look for better questions.

Then comes the Council — and the real complexity begins.

No institution is more influential, or more misunderstood. COREPER, working parties, informal trilogues — the jargon piles up, and behind it, real power moves. You map out how national positions harden, soften, and shift depending on who’s in the room — and who’s listening back home.

By the end of the day, you’re not frustrated. You’re sharper. You start to read silence like a signal, and opacity like a clue. The EU may not always speak clearly — but you’re learning how to listen between the lines.

The final day doesn’t close a chapter — it opens one.

You return to the newsroom space with something new: not just knowledge, but instinct. Your team has a story to pitch — urgent, cross-border, rooted in real lives and real consequences. You’ve followed leads, questioned sources, and now it’s time to stand behind your story.

Editors and veteran Brussels correspondents are in the room. Their feedback is sharp, but generous. They’re not here to grade you — they’re here to raise your game.

Then comes the pause. A deep breath. A conversation — not about institutions or deadlines, but about you.

What changed this week? What moments sharpened your curiosity — or your courage?

What tools do you now carry into your next article, your next interview, your next newsroom meeting?

In the final session, we build something concrete: your roadmap.

How will you stay connected to Brussels? How do you pitch from the periphery?

What stories still need telling — and who needs to hear them?

You leave not just with a notebook full of ideas — but with a clearer voice, a stronger spine, and a deeper sense that journalism doesn’t just explain Europe.

It shapes it.