European Parliament to launch web TV

The European Parliament will be launching an innovative web-TV channel in two weeks' time.

EuroparlTV, a totally web-based channel, will go online for the first time on September 17 and viewers will be able to follow it in all the 23 official EU languages including Maltese. A Belgian-based company responsible for the project has even recruited two full-time Maltese employees in Brussels who will be responsible for translating and dubbing features and news items into Maltese.

The channel is expected to carry live coverage of a whole range of events in Parliament, including plenary sessions, committee meetings, workshops and public hearings.

It will also include other material, such as profiles of MEPs, details on how the Parliament works and features specifically aimed at young people.

The European Parliament is giving a lot of importance to this project particularly as it wants to increase its visibility in view of the next European parliamentary election scheduled for next June.

This channel was first approved by MEPs in 2006 and is estimated to cost the European Parliament €9 million during its first year of operation.