INFORMATION SOCIETY OCTOBER 2009 ENPA discuss the plight of the press sector with Commissioner Reding on 8 September. The Presidents of ENPA and FAEP informed Ms. Reding about the current difficult economic and financial situation of the press sector in the EU Member States, highlighting that the last two months showed the highest decrease of advertising revenue for Europe's press in history. Advertising revenues have fallen between 20 and 50 percent depending on the market. In this particular context and in relation to policy issues, the Presidents drew the attention of the Commissioner to the current and most urgent challenges which need an immediate and appropriate response from the EU institutions: · Google and the press: following the joint Reding and Commissioner McCreevy statement on the US Google Book Settlement (7 September 2009), ENPA and FAEP Presidents underscored to the Commissioner that a possible change in the current EU copyright framework in the favour of other stakeholders, such as Google, would represent a direct threat to the viability of the publishing industry. They also stressed that Google's position notably in the online advertising market is also a concern to many publishers in Europe. HEADLINES INFORMATION SOCIETY 1 ENPA discuss the plight of the press sector with Commissioner Reding ALCOHOL FORUM Newspapers' effective role in raising awarness about alcohol harm 2 ADVERTISING ENPA meets Commissioner Kuneva 3 4 4 CONSUMER RIGTHS Draft Consumer rights directive · Mandatory advertising requirements: Commissioner Reding's new decision to reject the European Parliament's recent attempt to introduce an additional requirement for product information to be included in advertisements for energy related products is welcomed by FAEP and ENPA. EUROPEAN COMMISSION Commission President Barroso recognises the importance of the press sector INFORMATION SOCIETY 4 Viviane Reding calls for the achievement of a Digital Single Market MEDIA LITERACY 5 ENPA and FAEP welcomed the Commissioner's confirmation to support and protect advertising revenues as an essential source of finance for a free and independent press, in print and online. Without a free advertising market, the diversity of media and their independence could be endangered thus one of the fundamental pillars of our democratic societies weakened. ENPA members support European congress on media literacy MEDIA PLURALISM 5 New study attempts to develop tool to measure all aspects of media pluralism EVENTS Print Media Lounge Dinner with MEPs 6 ONLINE The ENPA Monthly Review is also available online , in English and French on our website www.enpa.be. The European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA) is the main advocate of the interests of European newspaper publishing industry towards the European institutions. We represent over 5,200 national, regional and local newspaper titles, published in 23 EU Member States as well as in Norway and Switzerland and read by over 300 million Europeans a day.