Wikimedia Europa
| Wikimedia Europa | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Mitglieder von Wikimedia Europa | |
| Ort | Brussels, Belgium & remote |
| Affiliate-Code | WMEU |
| Ländercode | EU |
| Rechtlicher Status | Association internationale sans but lucratif (AISBL) |
| Gründungsdatum | 13. Januar 2023 – formal recognition |
| Hauptbüro | Region Brüssel-Hauptstadt |
| Mitgliedschaft | 31 (Members of Wikimedia Europe) |
| Mitarbeiter | 5 |
| Präsident | Claudia Garád |
| Schriftführer | Alek Tarkowski |
| Schatzmeister | Capucine-Marin Dubroca-Voisin |
| Vorstandsmitglied |
|
| Schlüsselpersonen |
|
| Gründungspapier | Statuten |
| Budget | 800.000 EUR (2025) |
| Mailingliste | updates wikimedia-europe eu |
Wikimedia Europe is established for the purpose of providing a shared legal entity for and common platform of the Wikimedia organisations in Europe, and is part of the worldwide Wikimedia Movement.
Our main objectives are to:
- foster collaboration between European Wikimedians to thereby advance access to knowledge in Europe,
- provide a public voice advocating a public interest internet, and
- strive for freedom and fundamental rights in the digital era.
Wikimedia Europe or WMEU is an international non-profit association (association internationale sans but lucratif - aisbl) founded in 2023 according to Belgian law and seated in Brussels.
Mitglieder von Wikimedia Europa
As of April 2025, Wikimedia Europe represents 31 Wikimedia Movement affiliates including National Chapters, Users Groups and Thematic Organisations seated in Europe.
Take a look at the updated list of members of Wikimedia Europe
Information for new members
You can check out our presentation for newcomers and potential future members of Wikimedia Europe.
Founding the European network
On 20 July 2022 at the meeting of incorporated Wikimedia affiliates, representatives of 21 affiliates seated in Europe confirmed their organisations' commitment to found Wikimedia Europe. In 2023 the association was officially incorporated under Belgian law, seating in Brussels.
Although newly established, Wikimedia Europe was building upon the legacy of the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU, and leveraged a 10-year history in public policy design and advocacy in the area of digital rights, paired with extensive tech expertise.
Read about the founding process of Wikimedia Europe
- Wikimedia Europe/EU policy qualitative study report
- Wikimedia Europe/EU policy – structural implications focus group report
Read our founding documents
Vorstand
Current Board (2025 - 2026)
| Photo | Name | Wikimedia username | Seat | Term | Role | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg)
|
Claudia Garád | Elected
|
2025–2027
|
President
|
Wikimedia Austria | |
.jpg)
|
Capucine-Marin Dubroca-Voisin |
Gewählt
|
Treasurer
|
Wikimedia France | ||
|
Marian Grubben | Gewählt
|
Member
|
|||
.jpg)
|
Rebecca MacKinnon | Appointed
(20 May 2025) |
Member
|
N/A | ||
|
Alek Tarkowski | Gewählt
|
Secretary
|
Open Future |
Initial Board (2023 - 2025)
| Name | Wikimedia-Benutzername | Sitz | Amtszeit | Funktion | Zugehörigkeit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claudia Garád | Gewählt
|
2022–2025[1]
|
Präsident
|
Wikimedia Austria | |
| Capucine-Marin Dubroca-Voisin |
Gewählt
|
Schatzmeister
|
Wikimedia France | ||
| Rebecca MacKinnon | Ernannt
(22 Aug 2022) |
Mitglied
|
N/A | ||
| Gonçalo Themudo | Gewählt
|
Secretary
|
Wikimedia Portugal | ||
| Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz | Gewählt
|
Schriftführer
|
Wikimedia Poland |
Mitarbeiter
| Name | Position | Ask me about | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Mazgal | Geschäftsführerin | Strategy, governance, financial sustainability | anna.mazgalwikimedia-europeeu
|
| Dimi Zagorski | Direktor Politik | Child protection, copyright & AI, disinformation, content moderation & platform regulation, EU advocacy, policy positions | dimiwikimediabe
|
| Michele Failla | Leitender Berater EU-Recht & Politik | Media regulation, protection of fundamental rights & against malicious lawsuits (SLAPPs), disinformation, content moderation & platform regulation, protection of minors, EU advocacy, policy positions | michele.faillawikimedia-europeeu
|
| Valentina Calcagno | Fundraising-Managerin | Financial health, current EU Funding opportunities, support to members in their fundraising | valentina.calcagnowikimedia-europeeu
|
| Van Anh Dam | Network Management Specialist | Membership development, capacity building opportunities | networkwikimedia-europeeu
|
Strategy renewal
At the General Assembly in Prague 2025, members came together to reflect on values, explore priorities, and offer input into the direction of our 2030 strategy. Based on outcomes of the meeting and other contributions still being gathered, strategy drafts will be developed and later consolidated in 2025. Further details and updates will be shared regularly with members via Wikimedia Europe Updates mailing list and on this meta page.
Advocacy
The EU Policy initiative aims at coordinating the European Wikimedia chapters so they can have a unified and clear position on major legislative and political changes affecting the vision, mission and values of the Wikimedia movement.
In 2025 our main areas of engagement are:
- Child protection & age verification: Explaining how the Wikimedia communities and the Wikimedia Foundation are working together to protect children on the projects and participating in the discussions about which online platforms should preform mandatory age verification. Our position is that age verification would act as an additional barrier to accessing knowledge and should therefore only be mandated for the highest risk platforms.
- Content moderation: A large part of our work is to follow up on all the legislative conversations and proposals that touch upon how content moderation is performed, by users and by service providers. The main framework for this is the Digital Services Act. Here we are supporting the Wikimedia Foundation, including by providing input to the various guidelines the European Commission is issuing.
- AI: We are currently part of a lot of discussions and consultation related to AI and our projects. This includes copyright, attribution and citations, usage of tools for content moderation and generation, usage of Wikimedia content for training and the economics of the knowledge ecosystem. Our challenge for 2025 is to pull all these loose threads in a coherent strategy and message.
- GDPR simplification: The European Commission is expected to propose a reform to reduce the administrative burden under the EU's data protection framework for medium sized companies and nonprofits. We exploring the potential to lessen the burden and cost for the Wikimedia Foundation within this legislative change.
- Geoblocking: The European Union is expected to revamp its geoblocking rules. We are part of the deliberations taking the position that geoblocking is often a hurdle to accessing and verifying sources, which are essential for citations on the projects.
We publish a monthly Monitoring Report on Meta and on the public policy mailing list (publicpolicylistswikimediaorg). It provides updates on all these topics and more.
Capacity building
Supporting the European Wikimedia chapters is a core task within our mission. We aim to foster collaboration between European Wikimedians to empower individuals and organisations, strengthening the Wikimedia Movement’s impact in Europe. By working collectively, we achieve greater effectiveness than individual efforts alone, thereby advancing access to knowledge in Europe.
Network Mapping
We are currently mapping needs of European affiliates in order to provide tailor made structural support in the future. Capacity building programme will be launched in 2025.
Get in touch with us for further information on network mapping and capacity building at (networkwikimedia-europeeu).
To see how we supported our members and communities in 2024 check the fundraising section.
Current status: Fundamental mapping completed as of May 2025
Next steps: Further mapping focused on finances, thematic activities and external communications to be continued in 2025
Network Collaboration shaping
Goal: Facilitating discussion on shaping collaboration among network members
Current status: Mapping of current level of collaboration among members completed as of May 2025 as part of network mapping
Next steps: Network specialist to draft and propose a process for shaping guiding principles of collaboration among members
Network Communication shaping
Goal: Facilitating efforts to improve communication among network members and creating communication strategy for communication between WMEU and it’s members
Current status: Ongoing mapping of communication channels and needs as of May 2025
Next steps: Continued mapping of communication channels and needs Network specialist to draft and propose a strategy for communication between WMEU and it’s members
Fundraising
Wikimedia Europe organises and conducts fundraising activities to support free knowledge where the required efforts exceed capacities of the members as individual entities in the Wikimedia Movement.
Fundraising activities are aimed both to support the members in their fundraising efforts and raise funds for ensuring the organisation can carry out its statutory objectives as mandated by the members.
All fundraising activities are conducted in accordance with Wikimedia Europe's fundraising policy.
Support for members
Wikimedia Europe organises and conducts fundraising activities to support free knowledge where the required efforts exceed capacities of the Members as individual entities in the Wikimedia Movement.
Fundraising activities are aimed both to support the members in their fundraising efforts and raise funds for ensuring the organisation can carry out its statutory objectives as mandated by the members.
Check out the overview of how we currently support our members in their fundraising efforts: Fundraising support for members
2024
In 2024, we launched an initiative to support Wikimedia affiliates in Europe with accessing European Union funding. This effort was driven by members’ requests to explore possibilities within the EU funding framework.
Our initial focus is on the Erasmus+ programme, where we offer tailored advice and guidance to those interested in applying for funding.
2025
In 2025, we will build on our EU funding initiative by expanding it to include new programmes, such as the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme and Horizon Europe. Stay tuned!
Financial transparency
Wikimedia Europe is committed to rely on steady, diversified and ethical funding to ensure its independence, safeguard its reputation and maintain donor trust.
Check out our 2024 financial transparency report to learn more about our sources of funding.
Berichte und Pläne
Annual Reports and Plans
| Activity reports | Finanzberichte: | Annual budget plans | Annual work plans |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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Hauptversammlung
The General Assembly (GA) is the highest governing body in the organisation and is composed of member organisations with voting rights.
The GA meets once a year in Prague and once online.
| Year | GA Report |
|---|---|
| 2025 |
|
| 2024 |
|
| 2023 |
|
Information and documents
Bleib auf dem Laufenden!
Du kannst den folgenden Mailinglisten beitreten, um von uns Neuigkeiten zu erhalten:
Neuigkeiten (updateswikimedia-europeeu) – dies ist eine Liste mit allen Neuigkeiten zu Wikimedia Europa, unseren Treffen, organisatorischen Angelegenheiten und Vorstandsaktivitäten. Die Personen, die diese E-Mails erhalten, sind sowohl offizielle Vertreter ihrer Organisationen bei WMEU als auch andere Personen aus diesen Organisationen und Gruppen, die über die internen Angelegenheiten von Wikimedia Europa informiert werden möchten. Wenn du oder jemand anderes aus deiner Organisation dabei sein möchte – teile uns dies mit und wir werden dies ermöglichen.[2][3]
Öffentliche Politik-Mailingliste (publicpolicylistswikimediaorg) – dies ist eine öffentliche Liste, um politische Neuigkeiten auszutauschen, nach Erfahrungen und Perspektiven in allgemeinen politischen und Interessenvertretungsfragen zu suchen – sowohl von uns in Brüssel als auch von unseren Abonnenten. Die Abonnenten sind Politik- und Interessenvertretungsexperten, Enthusiasten und Anhänger von Wikimedia und anderen Organisationen, einschließlich EU-Institutionen, Medien und Einrichtungen, mit denen wir in politischen Debatten manchmal gegensätzliche Positionen einnehmen. Sie hat eine mäßig hohe Nutzung und dient dazu, eine viel gelobte monatliche Zusammenfassung der Brüsseler Politik zu teilen, die von Dimi erstellt wurde.[4][5][6]
If you wish to join Wikimedia Europe or receive updates, please reach out to us at (networkwikimedia-europeeu)
Follow our blog wikimedia.brussels
Privacy and transparency
- 2024 financial transparency report
- Transparenzpflichten des Arbeitgebers
- Privacy policy
- EU-Politik – Strategische Ausrichtung und Strategie der Bewegung 2030
Anmerkungen
- ↑ The 2-year Board term runs from the official incorporation of the organisation in January 2023
- ↑ Vertraulichkeitsstufe: Sofern der Verfasser einer Nachricht nichts anderes angibt (beispielsweise aus Datenschutzgründen), steht es dir frei, diese Nachrichten an deine Kollegen, deinen Vorstand und Mitglieder deiner Organisation weiterzuleiten.
- ↑ Personen, die nicht zur Gruppe hinzugefügt wurden, können nichts an ihre Mitglieder verschicken.
- ↑ Vertraulichkeitsstufe: Die Liste hat ein durchsuchbares öffentliches Archiv, ist also nicht dafür geeignet, vertrauliche Informationen weiterzugeben. Es steht dir frei, diese Nachrichten an beliebige Personen innerhalb und außerhalb deiner Organisation weiterzuleiten.
- ↑ Personen, die nicht zur Liste hinzugefügt wurden, können keine Beiträge an ihre Mitglieder verschicken.
- ↑ Jeder kann sich nach Zustimmung eines Administrators anmelden.