July 2010

This paper deals with the media relations activities performed in the Council of the European Union and more specifically explores the communication tasks and practices of press officers in the Press Service of that institution. Press officers at the Council Press Service affirm to be subject to at least three constraints that are of a different nature from constraints found in the corporate world, i.e. dependency on other DGs for detailed information, the Council Secretariat's general guidelines for conducting media relations and member states' and the Presidency's often competing media agendas.