The role of the Civil Society in defending

The role of the Civil Society in defending media freedom -Reflections from the study visit P 2 P 4 -7 July 2011

Objective and Agenda of the visit • Objective – to give participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with international and European policies and activities in the field of media freedom, to exchange experiences about the state of play of media freedom in the EU candidate countries • Agenda: visit to the European Parliament, DG Enlargement – office for Macedonia, presentations, discussions and debates with representatives from the European Commission, from DG Enlargement, European Federation of Journalists, Reporters without borders, European Centre for Journalism, PEN International , Irish press council etc

Other topics of the visit • EU institutions, their operation and communication forms and informing the public • The enlargement process, EU programmes and instruments for civil society sector

Experiences and impressions • EU programmes and instruments for media freedom • Experience and positive practices from EU member states • Information about media freedom on international level • Impressions about the event organisation

Media freedom in Macedonia • EC Progress report for Macedonia for 2011 • Reports and assessments of international organisations (Reporters without borders, Freedom house, European Federation of Journalists) • Reports of domestic CSOs and researchers