The EU paid €1 billion to the media: Here is the list of journalists and fact-checkers and how much they received

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The leadership of the European Union (EU) is funding media to promote the Brussels agenda, reveals a report by the European think tank MCC Brussels entitled: The Media Machine of Brussels: Financing European Media and Shaping Public Discourse.

The EU channels huge amounts of public money into media projects across Europe and beyond – amounting to almost €80 million a year, or almost €1 billion over the past decade – often with the explicit aim of promoting pro-European policies.

This is probably an underestimate: In addition to the funding EU media receive directly from the European Commission (€50 million per year) and the European Parliament (€10 million per year), funds also go to non-EU countries. Ukraine alone was allocated €10 million in 2025.

The report focuses exclusively on official EU media funding programs and does not include indirect funding channels such as advertising and communication contracts awarded to marketing firms that channel funds to major media outlets.

Financing European media

Through the Journalist Partnerships program alone (budget: up to 50 million euros), the EU manages a large ecosystem of “cooperation” with media projects: from pro-European advertising campaigns and “investigative journalism” to large-scale programs to combat “fake news.”

Of particular note is the close role of public broadcasters. The report speaks of a “semi-structural interrelationship between EU institutions and public media networks.”

EU-funded media

Here is a list of EU-funded media organisations, agencies and media projects included in the report, systematically arranged by country, with the respective funding amounts (where indicated):

Italy

Il Sole 24 Ore: €1.5 million
GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (including La Repubblica): €190,000
Internazionale (magazine): €180,000
Domani (daily newspaper): €100,000
ANSA (news agency): €5.6 million
Rete Blu (Regional Media): €300,000
Linkiesta (online media): Part of the “Wounds of Europe” project (funded by Stars4Media)
La Repubblica (“Europe, Italia” project): €260,000
Controradio (regional radio): €85,000
Bulle Media (podcast partner for “Wounds of Europe”)
OBC Transeurope (Project MOST)
RAI Radiotelevisione italiana (public broadcaster): €2 million
Ciaopeople Media Group (EP election campaign 2024): €150,000
Il Sole 24 Ore (Project Puls): Part of PULSE (€1.8 million total)

France

ARTE (cooperation with German media): €26 million
France TV (public broadcaster): €400,000
France Médias Monde: €16.5 million
France Télévisions (EP communication campaigns): €1 million
Libération, 20 Minutes, MediaConnect: Collaboration with EDMO-Hub
Reporters Without Borders: €5.7 million
Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace (EP election campaign 2024): €150,000
El Periódico de Catalunya (Spain/France as partner): €175,000
Maldita.es (fact-checking project)
Voxeurop (Europe-wide project): €290,000
European Cultural Foundation/Media projects (including Display-Europe): Part of €2.3 million funding

Germany

Deutsche Welle: €35 million
Bavarian Broadcasting: €600,000
ZDF: €500,000
n-ost (journalistic network): €1.5 million
German Press Agency (dpa): €3.2 million
Tagesspiegel (in European Focus)
CORRECTIV (fact check)
Thomson Foundation (Project MIE)
BR, ARD (in European media projects)
Reporters Without Borders (cooperation partner)

Spain

Agencia EFE: €2 million
RTVE (public broadcaster): €770,000
20minutos.es (“Youth and the European Elections”): €100,000
El Confidencial (in the PULSE project)
Maldita.es (fact-checking project)
Voxeurop (Europe-wide project)
Europa al día (“Cohesion Policy” project): €300,000
Project Iberian Stories (EFE & Lusa): €270,000

Poland

Gazeta Wyborcza: 105,000 €
Polish Press Agency: €500,000
Fundacja Osrodek Kontroli Obywatelskiej Oko (Project EthProMedE)
Bonnier Business Poland (European Funds project): €220,000
Gazeta Wyborcza (PULSE project)
College of Europe (MOST Project)
Fundacja Reporterow (Collaborative Journalism Initiative Project)

Portugal

Lusa News Agency: €200,000
RTP (public broadcaster): €1.5 million
Iberian Stories (EFE & Lusa, Spain-Portugal Transition Region): €270,000

Hungary

444.hu: €1.1 million
HVG (as media partner in European projects)
MediaResilience (Open Society Institute, Bulgaria): €2 million to support media in Hungary, among others

Belgium

RTBF: €675,000
Journalismfund Europe: €2.6 million
European Cultural Foundation (partner in media projects)
RTBF (EP communication campaigns)
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (in the MOST project)
Eurodyssée (Belgium): €175,000

Lithuania

Various media partners (Pulse of Europe): €285,000
Lithuanian Radio and Television (partner in MediaFit Ukraine project)

Czech Republic

Economia: €1.1 million
Deník Referendum (in the PULSE project)
Ustav nezavisle zurnalistiky (EthProMedE project)

Slovenia

RTV (public broadcaster): €80,000 to €280,000 in various projects
I know EU 2024 campaign: €80,000

Romania

PressOne: €111,000
Știrile Transilvaniei (in Project “Connecto”)
Hotnews (in the PULSE project)

Croatia

HINA (news agency)
MediaResilience (Open Society Institute)

Greece

Kathimerines: €150,000
Macropolis (“Future is Blue” project)
MediaResilience (Open Society Institute)

Austria

APA (Austria Press Agency)
The Standard (EP communication campaign): €175,000
ROD24 – Reporting on Democracy: €67,500

Denmark

TV2: €900,000
Ritzau (news agency)

Estonia

ERR: 1 million €
Delfi (Project PULSE)
European Journalism Centre (among others in IJ4EU)

Sweden

TT (Swedish News Agency)
SR (public law)

Netherlands

ANP (news agency)
EURACTIV (LucidAREurope project)
Bellingcat: €440,000
Tactical Tech, Stichting European Journalism Centre (Projects)
MOST (project with participation)

Bulgaria

BTA (news agency): €300,000
MediaResilience: €2 million
Mediapool (Project PULSE)
Bulgarian National Radio (EP campaign): €98,000

Ukraine

Suspilne (public broadcaster): over €16 million
MediaFit Project: €4 million
Various EU4IM programs (including projects with DW Akademie)

Influence beyond EU borders

Other countries and media partners in multinational EU projects:

Albania: ATA (news agency)
North Macedonia: MIA
Bosnia and Herzegovina: FENA, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Serbia: Tanjug
Azerbaijan: APA
Georgia: DW Akademie, Media Development Foundation
Moldova, Armenia, Belarus (media supported by EU programs)

Pan-European media and platforms

Euronews: approximately €230 million since its founding
Euractiv: €6 million
Eurozine: €1.5 million
European Newsroom (consortium of 24 agencies): approx. €1.7 million
European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO): at least €27 million
Various cross-border projects (e.g. Stars4Media, Journalism Partnerships): almost 50 million €

This list is based on the data published in the report and includes both direct EU funding to media and key projects active in several countries.

Conclusion of the report

“The EU creates financial dependence, stimulates narrative conformity, and fosters an ecosystem in which dissenting voices are marginalized – all in the name of fighting disinformation and promoting European values.”

The report warns of a systemic conflict of interest: Even without direct intervention in the editorial departments, the structural dependence on EU funds is sufficient to weaken critical reporting and align the media with Brussels’ official line.

yogaesoteric
September 18, 2025