About us
Welcome to the European Commission's Audiovisual Service! We are the EU related news and archive service providing indispensable information tailored for professionals in the media. We supply up to the minute audiovisual news coverage to the media around the world and deliver unique archive on the history of the EU.
Mission
We offer video, photo and sound coverage of European news. We also provide assistance for journalists wishing to cover EU subjects. Get the sights and sounds of Europe directly onto your screen via the Internet and via European broadcasting Service. All our materials are available in professional standards. European audiovisual material dating from the 1940s is also available.
We supply unbiased and reliable news services to broadcasters, news agencies, written press, and anyone who seeks to spread information on the activities carried out by the European Commission and other EU institutions.
On this site, we provide an overview of the products and distribution means on offer, as well as the technical services available in Brussels.
We are committed to expanding and adapting our products and services in order to offer you information you can trust because of its depth and its breadth, its speed and its accuracy. Information that is easy to find and to use, in fact, the information that you need.
Activities
Video
We cover Europe's news
Our teams ensure news coverage of events taking place in the institutions of the European Union: meetings, official visits, press conferences, signing of treaties. Wherever news happens, in Europe or elsewhere, major events in the construction of Europe and statements by major European personalities are recorded as they take place.
They are made immediately available to media professionals world-wide. Our live coverage of events, news summaries, info-clips, stockshots and photo reports illustrate the different EU activities and are aimed at helping the international media during the coverage of European events.
Photo
Picturing Europe
We deliver extensive photo coverage of all main EU-related news. From the European Coal and Steel Community to the latest EU events we offer photo coverage, in both black & white and colour, both of the founders of the European Community and the main events of the last half century of European history.
Available products include archive photos covering the main events since the 1950s on Community themes.
Audio
The voices of Europe
We provide daily news coverage in broadcast quality audio. The Audiovisual Library offers you voices of Europe expressed in its many languages in key speeches and declarations by key players in the construction of Europe as all major events, negotiations and agreements took place. The Audiovisual Library's sound archive footage covers the principal developments since World War II.
Distribution
Sights and Sounds on Air
The European broadcasting Service (EBS) provides EU related pictures and sound for professionals working in television and radio stations and for institutions. EBS is directly available to local, regional, national and international organisations in the Union, the Mediterranean area, and Central and Eastern Europe. EBS transmits a free to air signal via satellite and is also available via the Internet.
Live coverage, news summaries and stockshots
European broadcasting Service offers live coverage of the main EU events and live daily news broadcasts. In addition, EBS offers thematic footage illustrating the daily news and video news releases related to the integration process in Europe. These services are available in natural sound and in up to 24 languages a device that is unique in the world.
Sights and Sounds and Services online
The Internet provides an alternative to satellite transmissions. This service also allows on-demand consultation of any event or subject during the week following its transmission on satellite. All products become accessible to any connected media or individual anywhere in the world through the Internet portal of the audiovisual service. On the site you will find EBS permanently updated transmission schedule, as well as shotlists detailing the content of pictures and links to complementary information sources and photos. Pictures and sound may be downloaded in broadcast quality formats: MPEG-4 for video, MP3 for sound and JPEG for photos. This news material is published during or soon after the events, remains available for at least one month and is easy to download, process and file. Finally, you can enter your booking requests for the technical assistance that we describe hereafter.
Copyright
This material is offered free of charge for EU-related information and education purposes.Further details on our conditions of use are available in the Copyright section
AVservice
Assistance on the spot
On location, we offer various services to radio and TV journalists covering the European Union and the Commission in particular. In the Berlaymont building in Brussels, there are two TV studios and one radio studio, plus editing and duplication facilities, ENG video crews, as well as archive and play-out services.
We make filming easier for you
We can provide useful contacts and accompany news teams within our buildings. Details of visits by personalities, or other events at the Commission, are faxed or emailed to the accredited audiovisual press in advance of the event. This information is also available in the press room of the Berlaymont building. When press pools are organised, video copies are made available to journalists who were not able to attend the event.
Authorisation
In order to obtain a permit for filming and photo shoots on and around European Commission’s premises, please consult the Audiovisual Service (DG COMM A4) COMM-GESTION-AV@ec.europa.eu.
A permit for filming/taking pictures can only be granted if the content is in line with the European Commission’s copyright guidelines. You can find more information on the copyright notice and the terms of use accompanying each individual file on the following page: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/copyright.
We expect the general interest of the European Union to be preserved. Furthermore, it is mandatory for external film teams/photographers to be accompanied by an EU official at all times.
Before authorization, the Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM) and the Security Service (DG HR/DS) need certain information to grant the filming and/or photo requests inside, and around Commission buildings. Kindly provide us with the following information when submitting your request:
- Name of the filming company/photographer (Please also indicate their cell phone number and website if available):
- Date, time, place and details of the places to be filmed/photographed:
- Purpose of the content/publication details:
- Commission statutory staff who will be present during the filming (please also indicate their cell phone number):
- Point of contact in your DG, and from the film company (please also indicate their cell phone number):
If you wish to submit a request for filming/taking pictures with a drone around European Commission premises, you need to obtain the prior approval of the European Commission’s Security Services.
Please send an email to COMM-GESTION-AV@ec.europa.eu, who will liaise with them. We will inform you on the follow-up as soon as the request has been approved.
All drone operators need to comply with the active rules of the respective geo-zone. Please consult https://map.droneguide.be/ and https://ops.skeyes.be/.
We kindly ask you to submit your request at least 3 weeks prior to the start of your project.