European Council: Media advisory – Accreditation for physical presence at the European Council on 21 and 22 October

General arrangements

For the European Council meeting of 21-22 October, up to 140 media representatives will be admitted on site, in accordance with Belgian COVID-19 safety measures and respecting current social distancing rules¹. Strict COVID protocols will be applied and enforced as necessary. Working spaces and stand-up positions for cameras will be set up in the atrium of the Justus Lipsius building, in addition to the Council press centre working area. The press conferences will be run in hybrid mode and questions will be taken from the room and from journalists connected remotely.

Registration

Media representatives wishing to cover the meeting in person are required to register in advance, following the link “Accreditation for physical presence at the European Council, 21-22 October” on the media accreditation page.

The deadline to register is Friday 1 October 2021, 16:00.

Journalists with Council 1-year badge valid for 2021 also need to register.

Media representatives are strongly advised to apply as soon as possible to allow for sufficient time to process the requests.

Accreditation

Should the number of requests exceed 140, the Council press centre will proceed with a selection of the media representatives accredited to be present physically on-site. After discussion with API-IPA, the selection will be made by applying the following three criteria in sequence until maximum capacity is reached (priority will be given to journalists holding a European Council annual badge²):

Representation of all EU 27 member states
Brussels-based main international media and agencies
Random distribution of remaining places

Media representatives that will be accredited will receive a confirmation email.
In order to make the best use of the capacity available, please inform the press centre immediately should you finally decide not to attend in person, via e-mail to press.centre@consilium.europa.eu.

Badges will be made available for collection at the accreditation desk of the Justus Lipsius building in the days ahead of the European Council. Opening hours from 7:30 to 19:00.

A media accreditation desk will be set up at the LEX building (145, rue de la Loi) outside the security perimeter, to allow for collection of badges during the event. Opening hours: Thursday 21 October, from 9:00 to 17:00.

Press conferences

The joint press conference(s) in the JL Press Room will be run in hybrid mode with :

a presence of journalists in the room, up to a maximum capacity of 80 seats (first-come, first-served),
via the videoconference platform (Zoom), with possibility to ask questions remotely

Connection information will be shared via instant messaging (Signal) or email.

Doorsteps

The doorstep area in the Europa Building will be accessible only to a limited media pool, due to the constraints imposed by the available space and the respect of the social distancing rules.

In order to maximise opportunities for journalists, priority will be given to reporters (i.e. journalists asking questions). Host camera and sound services will be available in the area.

Sanitary Requirements

Access is conditional upon meeting one of the following COVID-19 requirements:

negative PCR test, taken within 72 hours of the start of the meeting

recovery from COVID-19 certified by a medical doctor
proof of full vaccination more than 14 days before the day of the meeting.

No certificate should be sent to the GSC.

Press materials

Videos and photos of the Summit will be available on:

¹ A minimum distance of 1.5m must be kept at all times as per the rules currently in application in Belgium (https://www.info-coronavirus.be/en/faq/).
²If you applied for the annual badge in 2021 and you have received a positive acknowledgement from Council press centre, please collect it in time.