Editing European Commission (section)

===Press===
[[File:Berlaymont Press Room.jpg|thumb|Press Room in the Berlaymont]]

Communication with the press is handled by the [[Directorate-General Communication (European Commission)|Directorate-General Communication]]. The commission's chief spokesperson is Eric Mamer who holds the midday [[Mass media|press]] briefings, commonly known as the "Midday Presser". It takes place every weekday in the commission's press room at the Berlaymont where journalists may ask questions to the Commission officials on any topic and legitimately expect to get an "on the record" answer for live TV. Such a situation is unique in the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lynam|first=Joe|title=The peculiar world of the European Union|work=BBC News|date=1 April 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6496813.stm|access-date=17 June 2007|archive-date=9 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509160441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6496813.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

As an integral part of the Directorate-General for Communication, the Spokesperson's Service, in coordination with the Executive Communication Adviser in the President's Cabinet, supports the President and Commissioners so that they can communicate effectively. On political communication matters, the chief spokesperson reports directly to the President of the European Commission.

It has been noted by one researcher that the press releases issued by the commission are uniquely political. A release often goes through several stages of drafting which emphasises the role of the commission and is used "for justifying the EU and the Commission" increasing their length and complexity. Where there are multiple departments involved a press release can also be a source of competition between areas of the Commission and Commissioners themselves. This also leads to an unusually high number of press releases, and is seen as a unique product of the EU's political set-up.<ref name="Press Releases">{{cite web|last=Mahony|first=Honor|title=EU carefully manages PR through 1000s of press releases|publisher=EU Observer|date=17 October 2007|url=http://euobserver.com/9/24971|access-date=17 October 2007|archive-date=21 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521020129/http://euobserver.com/9/24971|url-status=live}}</ref>

There is a larger press corps in Brussels than Washington, D.C.; in 2020, media outlets in every Union member-state had a Brussels [[correspondent]]. Although there has been a worldwide cut in journalists, the considerable press releases and operations such as [[Europe by Satellite]] and [[EuroparlTV]] leads many news organisations to believe they can cover the EU from these source and [[News agency|news agencies]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Castle |first=Stephen |title=As the E.U. Does More, Fewer Tell About It |work=International Herald Tribune |date=21 March 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/global/23press.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/global/23press.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited |access-date=3 April 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Commission shut down [[Presseurop]] on 20 December 2013,<ref>{{Cite news |author= Editorial |date= 2 December 2013 |title= Without Presseurop? |url= http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/4369791-without-presseurop |work= Presseurop |access-date= 9 December 2013 |archive-date= 4 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131204234653/http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/4369791-without-presseurop |url-status= dead }}</ref> though the decision was criticised.<ref>{{cite news |author= Martin Schulz |author-link= Martin Schulz |date= 10 December 2013 |title= Presseurop's role is essential |url= http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/blog/4390871-martin-schulz-presseurop-s-role-essential |access-date= 14 December 2013 |work= Presseurop |archive-date= 14 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131214062137/http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/blog/4390871-martin-schulz-presseurop-s-role-essential |url-status= dead }}</ref>