The European Press Corps Cannot Cover the EU

BRUSSELS—The European Union is a vast entity, stretching across 28 nations, with regulations, directives, and debates that affect each one. Every year, the EU holds several major summits, dozens of high-level ministerial gatherings, and hundreds of committee meetings at the European Parliament.

Seeking to project influence and unity, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, holds a daily news conference open to journalists from across the continent, and, in fact, the world. Yet most media coverage is stubbornly parochial. Reports from European news outlets have a national flavor, catering to local sensibilities. Whether a national leader won, lost, or tied, whether a representative was able to extract a concession to bring back home or capitulated to counterparts, is often more important than how members’ decisions affect the EU as a whole.

This national focus has outsize consequences, helping to make the European project a soft target for its