The European Union Publishers’ Forum
Objectives
Organisation
Membership
Licensing
Co-publishing
Supporting activities
Contact us
The key purpose of the European Union Publishers’ Forum is to stimulate a dynamic partnership between the European institutions and publishers. This alliance aims to fulfil our main objective of bringing Europe closer to its citizens by improving access to EU-related information.
It is required that texts providing information on core EU policies are published by official channels. However, supporting information is increasingly in demand, and there is a greater need to have information translated in more languages. A functioning partnership between publishers and European institutions will constitute a solid buttress with which to tackle this cultural richness in all its width and depth.
Whatever their medium, publishers have a vital role to play: using data and texts produced by European institutions, they can develop tailored and specialised products and make them available to the general public and to professional audiences.
Although the Forum was initially conceived to cover data from European institutions, this initiative has been welcomed by European agencies and other bodies of the European Union. Thus the EU Publishers’ Forum provides a centralised platform for licensing opportunities in European matters.
The EU Publishers’ Forum was established in 1996. It is co-presided by the President of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and the Director of the Publications Office of the European Union.
The Forum’s Secretariat is located in Luxembourg, within the Customer Relations Unit of the Publications Office.
There are two categories of membership: full members and guest members.
Membership is free, requiring only the completion of a registration form, which is available on our website
The Forum’s licensing framework represents a novel feature in the licensing activities of the Publications Office. The Forum is of a particular and innovative character, and this is mainly because the conditions for collaboration and those for fees are predetermined. They are thus known in advance by all potential partners. Conditions do not have to be renegotiated each time and, furthermore, they are also very simple, transparent, and favourable to the publishers.
Publishers can adapt manuscripts — that is, provide finishing touches, add value to them and choose a suitable medium — in order to market them to specific audiences. The end product will be the publisher’s own work.
In addition to original manuscripts, publishers may also rework already published data — ample details of which can be found in catalogues, databases, directories, the Europa web pages and EU Bookshop.
The general terms and conditions of the licence contract 
[92 KB] have been formulated to facilitate a simple, straightforward grant of publication rights. A price of EUR 3 per A4 page (or equivalent) or per 2 000 characters has been set for original manuscripts, although this pricing may be reviewed at a later stage.
Co-publishing contracts enable the production of joint publications. It allows for the publication of documents prepared by the departments of the various institutions or agencies in collaboration with public or private publishers. Collaboration with professional publishers gives access to specific target groups because of the publishers’ knowledge of these groups and the market concerned.
The final products resulting from this collaboration can be distributed in parallel by the Publications Office and the partner publisher. They will also bear the logos and official identification codes of the two parties: the Publications Office and/or the originating department on the one hand, and the co publisher on the other.
Copyright will continue to be held by the European Union. The publication is listed in the European Union’s online EU Bookshop and in the catalogues of official EU publications.
The Publications Office acts on behalf of the DGs/institutions and agencies, in collaboration with the Customers Relations Unit, in order to find a publisher, and during the negotiation and signature of the agreement and the operational monitoring of the project. The Customers Relations Unit is solely responsible for the content of the work to be published.
The institutions are involved in the production of the publication either by supplying original documents free of charge (type A contract [73 KB] ) or by contributing to the manufacturing process and/or making a financial contribution according to the procedures agreed by the parties (type B contract [74 KB] ).
While the licensing of data is one of the Forum’s main areas of activity, the Secretariat also coordinates additional activities which support the Forum’s aim to be an area for collaboration and exchange.
Forum meetings are held at least once a year, and they serve as a platform for discussion and an exchange of opinions. All members are welcome and their input is greatly valued.
The spring meetings are held in either Luxembourg or Brussels; autumn meetings are held at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
A bulletin, aimed at keeping members informed and in touch, is published twice a year; it contains minutes of the Forum meetings, manuscripts available for licensing and feature articles.
A printed catalogue, featuring a selection of members’ publications, is produced as a result of members’ collaboration and is published annually. It provides a brief insight into the numerous current publications on European affairs, and represents the contribution of the Publications Office to the promotion of its partners’ publications.
European Union Publishers’ Forum
Publications Office of the European Union
2, rue Mercier
2985 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG
E-mail: forum-info@publications.europa.eu
Tel. +352 29 29-44394
Fax +352 29 29-42901