The Point: The EU is testing whether influencers can serve as additional information channels at summits and high-level events to decentralize EU political reporting.
The European Commission is piloting a new programme that grants influencers access to EU summits, press conferences and doorstep briefings. The goal is to expand the reach of European decision-making beyond traditional media channels.
As part of a pilot project of the European Council, influencers will in future be invited to high-level events of the European Union. This is intended to enable them to be present at summit meetings, press conferences and informal doorstep briefings.
The background to this initiative lies in the growing recognition that traditional media channels are no longer sufficient to communicate European politics to a broad public. By having influencers present directly at sites of decision-making, social media is to be used as an additional multiplier for EU-relevant topics.
How the initiative will be concretely shaped — for instance regarding accreditation guidelines, topic selection or the handling of distributed content — will become apparent over the course of the pilot programme. The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen is thus betting on an experimental format to narrow the gap between Brussels politics and citizen participation.
Source: ainews-dev.lumi-systems.io · Published 12 May 2026
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