Federation of European Publishers

FEP and other international book organisations sign an appeal to promote reading among young people

fep-fee admin — 2026-04-13T14:53:17Z

Bologna Children's Book Fair: the global book community appeals to international institutions: "Let's join forces more than ever to promote reading among young people: it is vital to democracy"

"Uniting publishers, bookstores, libraries, schools, families, child development specialists and the media is the surest way to put books back at the center and foster critical thinking"

On the occasion of the Bologna Children's Book Fair, international book organizations signed an appeal for renewed commitment from national, regional and international organizations towards reading promotion.

The appeal, below, was signed by the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), the Syndicat National de l'Édition (SNE), and the Bologna Children's Book Fair at the conclusion of the event Building the Future Generation of Readers: Best Practices and Policies for Reading Promotion.

The statement reads:

"The undersigned organisations call upon UNESCO, the European Commission, and all national and international institutions to renew their commitment to supporting initiatives that promote book reading especially among young people, as an indispensable tool for strengthening and developing open and democratic societies."

"The exchange we have had here in Bologna on best practices adopted across different countries reinforces our conviction that the surest path forward lies in engaging the broadest possible network of stakeholders, including: authors, publishers, bookstores, libraries, schools, families, child development specialists, and the media. It is fundamental that such initiatives are decisively supported by national and international public institutions through sustained, long-term funding that is capable of recognizing and enhancing local and regional specificities."

"We are facing a pivotal moment: children and teenagers today live in an environment where unguided and uncritical use of smartphones and tablets makes increasingly difficult to sustain focus and develop critical thinking, qualities that reading books nurtures in a unique way. Putting books back at the center means investing in the future of democracy."

Mari Yasunaga, Programme Specialist, Section of Youth, Literacy, and Skills Development, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems - Education Sector of UNESCO, attended the event organized by AIE and BCBF in collaboration with SNE, FEP, IPA and IBBY. Some of the world's most successful reading promotion initiatives were presented, including: #ioleggoperché in Italy, with its pilot program #ioleggoperchéLAB-NIDI; various initiatives promoted in France and South Korea; and the United Kingdom's National Year of Reading.

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FEP Statement - European book publishers condemn the exclusion of three German bookshops from the German Bookshop Award

fep-fee admin — 2026-03-11T09:53:27Z

The Federation of European Publishers joins the International Publishers Association, our member, the German Booksellers and Publishers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) and the European and International Booksellers Federation in condemning the exclusion of three bookshops from the German Bookshop Award. This decision highlights serious deficiencies in terms of the procedure which led to the exclusion and transparency, and directly undermines the values of freedom of expression and freedom to publish on which the publishing sector is based.

FEP President, Sonia Draga, said: ‘European publishers are concerned that these bookshops were excluded without being provided any justification. Bookshops are places where ideas are exchanged and new opinions are shaped. We demand clarity on the process that led to the exclusion of the three bookshops and, in the absence of a clear process and transparency, their immediate reintegration in the German Bookshop Award'.

FEP is an independent, non-commercial umbrella association of book publishers' associations in Europe. FEP represents 31 national associations of publishers of books, learned journals and educational materials, in all formats, in Europe. FEP is the voice of the great majority of publishers in Europe.

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Press release - Creative sectors need less good sentiments and more enforcement against generative AI

fep-fee admin — 2026-03-10T13:29:46Z

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) notes the adoption of the non-legislative report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and copyright by the European Parliament today.

The report recognises a truth that our sector had to live with since the rise of generative AI: AI developers built their business model on the massive theft of copyright-protected content and the complete disregard of European copyright law, while their AI-generated output unfairly competes with real creative content.

Court cases in the US have shown that AI developers consider books to be the single most important training data to build their generative AIs and chose to supply their needs through illegal sources rather than publishers. Book publishers have also faced a flood of “fake books”, AI-generated text that do not disclose their nature to consumers, that have overtaken the market on online sellers of books.

This original sin is compounded by the systemic lack of transparency that unfortunately the AI Act has done little to stop, due to insufficient transparency requirements and a lack of enforcement. The report rightfully calls for a reinforcement of the transparency regime, which is a precondition for any licensing or enforcement to take place.

While there is room for an AI licensing market, the report underlines that exclusive rights of rightsholders must be respected, including when they refuse to licence, and that there can't be a one-size fit all or mandatory licensing model.

To complete the current legislative framework, the report proposes complementary measures to support enforcement, including a presumption of use that would be triggered whenever an AI company fails to be transparent on its training data. Further measures might need to be explored, such as statutory damages against mass copyright infringers or new obligations on online platforms that facilitate the training of AI or the sale of AI-generated output.

Sonia Draga, President of FEP, declared “It is now impossible for anyone to say ‘we didn't know' when confronted with the havoc generative AI developers have caused for the creative sectors. It is now time for the European Commission and Member States to actually enforce the law and to give us publishers the tools to enforce our rights against actors that have repeatedly demonstrated their bad faith and unwillingness to play by Europe's rules.”

For more information contact:

Quentin Deschandelliers, FEP Legal Advisor
qdeschandelliers(a)fep-fee.eu
+32 2 776 84 63

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FEP statement on the launch of the Digital Education Content Guidelines

fep-fee admin — 2026-03-06T12:54:09Z

The Federation of European Publishers welcomes the launch of “Making informed choices on digital education content: EU guidelines for teachers and educators”, the EU guidelines designed for teachers and educators in making decisions in relation to the use of digital education content in schools – the result of the valuable work of a diverse and committed group of experts (including FEP).

We are glad that the guidelines recognise the role of educational publishers as trusted providers of digital education content. This role is all the more relevant in the digital world, where the overabundance of easily available content calls for guidance for teachers and students – and the rise of AI makes this need even more compelling, to the point that in many countries now authorities are reassessing an overreliance on digital.

Educational publishers invest their resources to offer quality content, in all formats, tailored to the needs of educators and learners at all levels. A sound copyright framework enables the recognition of this contribution and the safeguard of this investment. It is therefore encouraging to find in the guidelines several recommendations regarding the respect of copyright in the domain of digital education content – once again, with special attention to the application of AI tools in education.

We take the opportunity to invite educators and policymakers to rely on educational publishers as trusted partners for the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of educational systems.

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Contact:
Enrico Turrin
FEP Deputy Director and Economist
eturrin(a)fep-fee.eu

PLR International mourns the passing of founder of the PLR International network Jim Parker

fep-fee admin — 2026-01-26T15:57:50Z

The international association Public Lending Right International (PLRI) has heard with great sadness the passing away of the founder of the PLR International network in 1995, Jim (James) Parker.

As UK PLR Registrar and later coordinator of the PLRI network, Jim was an ardent supporter of a fair remuneration for authors and other rightsholders when their copyrighted works are lent in public libraries. Countless were his interventions in many countries to convince the authorities that a well-functioning public lending scheme was the appropriate solution to secure a fair compensation for rightsholders whilst also sustaining the creative sector and cultural diversity.

The President of PRLI Arjen Polman and the Board present their sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Jim Parker.

They will honour his memory when they next meet in Rome for the bi-annual PLR conference.

Jim will be dearly missed as a true PLR hero and as a friend.

Photograph taken at the Brussels PLR conference in 2011.

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Press release | The 2025 European Authors Day ends with a record number of 6573 events in 34 Creative Europe countries

fep-fee admin — 2025-12-18T15:45:39Z

From Sweden and Finland to Tunisia and Turkey, from Ukraine and Latvia to Portugal and Italy – an amazingly international celebration of human creativity and reading, live and for real, gathered over 300 000 participants during the last 4 weeks.

Post offices, bookstore chains, schools, libraries, nurseries, publishers, cultural centres, local authorities, companies, NGOs, authors, illustrators and translators from all over Europe joined under the slogan #ReadForReal: to strengthen our creativity and connection, economy, innovation and democracies; for Europe to remain human. The European Authors Day, launched in 2023, is an initiative implemented by a European consortium and co-financed by the EU Creative Europe programme.

Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, said: “The European Authors Day reminds us that reading is far more than a leisure activity, it's a cornerstone of personal development, critical thinking, and democratic life. Through this initiative, we celebrate the extraordinary richness and diversity of European literature, the creative minds that shape it, and the ecosystem through which it lives on: authors, libraries, bookshops, publishers, and readers amongst others. By encouraging people, especially young readers, to #ReadForReal, we strengthen the bonds that unite Europe through shared stories, ideas, and languages. I am proud that the European Commission, through Creative Europe and its dedicated partners, continues to nurture this vibrant culture of reading and reflection across our continent."

“We are extremely grateful to all the amazing people around Europe who decided to join the celebration, registered and organised European Authors Days #ReadForReal events. They are true co-authors of this amazing success. We are humbled by this deep and wonderfully diverse strength of Europe, showing its amazing potential at our invitation. We are very honoured to be able to serve in the role of coordinators and looking very much forward to next year already!” – underlined Maria Deskur from the Universal Reading Foundation from Poland, in the name of the consortium running the project.

The European Authors Day #ReadForReal 2026 calendar has already been announced with the “Literacy for Democracy. Shaping the Future” Conference in May 2026 in Warsaw, the #ReadForEurope workshop in November in Blois, and, last but not least, the pan-European celebration during 11.11-12.12 (11 November – 12 December 2026). Details to be followed at www.readforreal.eu; on Instagram: @read.forreal and on Facebook: READ. for Real

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Press release | Books and other printed products excluded from EU Deforestation Regulation

fep-fee admin — 2025-12-18T08:04:33Z

Brussels, 17 December 2025

On 17 December, the final act of the European Union Deforestation Regulation was played in the Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament. Members of the EP voted in favour of the provisional agreement reached with the Council, excluding books and other printed products. On 15 December, the Environment Committee of the EP approved this provisional agreement on the EUDR reached in the trilogue.

Sonia Draga, President of the Federation of European Publishers, “European publishers and all those who sell books in Europe are relieved that this Regulation excludes books. I must thank my colleagues at the Federation and all our members for the work they have done to explain the situation to MEPs and their governments. A year ago, such an exclusion was unimaginable, but it has become a reality thanks to the solid arguments and the work of all publishers on environmental sustainability. MEPs and governments must be thanked for recognising the importance of books to society”.

Even if books are excluded, paper is not, and the European Commission is carrying out a survey to gather information about the expected use of the Information System (TRACES) by companies importing EUDR commodities or derived products. FEP will reach out to its members to contribute to that survey.

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European Book Publishing Statistics 2024

fep-fee admin — 2025-12-08T15:54:40Z

21 November 2025

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) represents 31 national associations of publishers of books, learned journals and educational materials, in all formats, in Europe. The present survey is based on reports from the national book publishing associations and on further analysis and refining of data for the year 2024. Since 2019, the survey has been based on a new questionnaire, which in the short term will entail limited comparability with some older data.

The main figures on the overall economic significance of the publishing industry refer to net publishers' turnover, i.e. the publishers' total revenues from the sales of books, not the total market for books (margin of booksellers or other retailers) – which is estimated separately. They also do not account for revenues in terms of selling rights for translation, audiovisual adaptation, etc. In some cases, only data on market value was available; in such cases, average discount rates were applied to calculate an approximation of net turnover. Figures were rounded conservatively.

The total annual sales revenue of book publishers in Europe in 2024 was approximately € 24.9 billion, according to the survey conducted by FEP. This represents a small increase from 2023 (about 2.2%), the result of mixed outcomes across countries. The largest markets in terms of publishers' turnover were Germany, the UK, France, Spain and Italy. While total turnover is at its highest level ever, this is only in nominal terms: considering inflation, there has been a loss of turnover in the same period of more than 30%. Total market value is estimated at € 36.1 billion (from sales of European publishers' books), for a total consumer expenditure of some 37-39 billion €. For the first time, FEP has built a time series with data on book sales in units; the estimate for 2024 is of around 2.5 billion copies sold. However, the trend in the last few years shows a decrease in sales in volume.

A total of about 580,000 new titles were issued by publishers in 2024, a small decrease from 2023, also the result of different situations in each country. The figure was taken from different sources, some of which included new editions or non-commercial titles, and was rounded conservatively. European publishers held about 14.3 million different titles in stock (some 3.4 million in digital format), the countries reporting the largest availability being the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain; this figure has been spiked by the surge in digital publishing, the digitisation of back catalogues, the growth of print-on-demand services and the surge in self-published titles, as well as other phenomena. The countries reporting the largest new titles output were the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

Employment remains an area where it is difficult to gather reliable data. The entire book value chain (including authors, booksellers, printers, designers, etc.) is estimated to employ more than half a million people.

Looking at longer-term trends, up to 2007, there was steady growth both in revenues and titles. The 2008 economic crisis had less of an impact on publishing when compared to most other sectors, but revenues decreased or stagnated until 2014. After 2010, the ebook market grew fast, and exports performed well. After a pause in 2018, the positive trend resumed in 2019. 2020, the year for the pandemic, saw first a very negative impact of the health crisis, but closed with a result only moderately negative, albeit as the result of many different situations and factors. The pandemic also pushed digital sales up. 2021, while witnessing an impressive – though uneven – recovery, was also the year in which a paper crisis began. In 2022-24, turnover grew overall, but at a much slower pace and driven by prices, with the impact of the paper crisis and geopolitical instability being felt. The ebook market (now around 13% of the total) showed signs of stagnation for the 5 years before Covid (but it could be a matter of capturing the right data), whereas audiobook sales exploded in 2019, giving new impetus to digital sales; they reached 4.2% of the total in 2024 (but the figure is largely underestimated).

For further information: Enrico Turrin, +32 2 776 84 64 - eturrin(a)fep-fee.eu

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Press release | FEP among the founding organisations of Public Lending Right International (PLRI)

fep-fee admin — 2025-12-08T11:38:51Z

Geneva, Switzerland, Monday 8 December 2025

On 2 December, Public Lending Right International (PLRI) was established as an international association to bring together lending rights stakeholders from across the globe — allowing them to exchange best practices, while providing advice and technical assistance to countries looking to set up PLR systems for the first time or to improve PLR systems already established.

The board of directors, drawn from each of the seven founding members, elected Arjen Polman, CEO of Stichting Leenrecht in the Netherlands, as its President.
Commenting on the founding of the association, Arjen Polman said: Formally establishing PLRI after 30 years of public lending right supporting text authors, visual authors, translators and publishers is a great step forward. We now invite all organisations that manage or distribute public lending rights to become members of PLRI as well as authors' and other rightsholders' organisations, as they are also eligible.

Lending of copyrighted texts and images is an exclusive right of the authors and other rightsholders. For public lending by public libraries however, an exception to copyright may be provided and/or a collective remuneration scheme (either copyright based or not) may be established. The Public Lending Right (PLR) is the right of authors and, as appropriate, other rightsholders to receive a fair payment for public lending by and in public libraries. In every PLR country the use of authors' works in public libraries forms the bedrock of the system. PLR is therefore essential to ensure the sustainability of the creative and publishing sector, as well as a broad and diverse offering in public libraries.

The founding organisations of PLRI are EVA (European Visual Artists), EWC (European Writers' Council), FEP (Federation of European Publishers), IPA (International Publishers Association) and three collective management organisations active in the collection and distribution of public lending rights: Reprobel (Belgium), La Sofia (France) and Stichting Leenrecht (The Netherlands).

PLRI had been operating as an informal global network since 1995. The new association, now jointly established by the international book sector's federations formally under Swiss law with its headquarters in Geneva, will organise a PLR International Conference in 2026.

For more information, contact Arjen Polman, arjen.polman@plrinternational.com
Visit the website of PLRI at: https://plrinternational.com/

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Press release | FEP welcomes the political agreement that excludes books from the scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation

fep-fee admin — 2025-12-05T11:39:32Z

Brussels, 5 December 2025

FEP welcomes the Council's and the European Parliament's representatives for reaching yesterday a provisional political agreement on a targeted revision of the EU regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR), which excludes books and other printed products from the scope of the Regulation. The agreement reflects the limited deforestation risk associated with these items and the disproportionateness of the burden they would have had to face. FEP President Sonia Draga declared, “The decision by the co-legislators to exclude books and other printed products from the scope of the EUDR is a highly positive outcome for the European publishing sector. It matches the decision taken by the Parliament last week, with 449 votes in favour, to exclude books from the EUDR. This agreement reflects a clear understanding by the institutions of the specific and complex nature of print production and distribution chains. By taking this decision, the co-legislators also saved millions of books from destruction, contributing to safeguarding the right of European citizens to reliable and accessible information. This result would not have been reached without the joint efforts of FEP and its members, together with colleague associations from the book, newspapers and magazines sectors and shows that united we can make our arguments heard and make reason prevail. We now call on the EU Institutions to confirm the provisional agreement at the earliest opportunity”.

Contacts
Enrico Turrin – FEP Deputy Director
eturrin@fep-fee.eu

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