WHO WE ARE

The European Writers’ Council – Fédération des associations européennes d’écrivains – (EWC-FAEE) AISBL

• raises awareness for the role of professional writers and literary translators in society;
• represents the interests of its over 250,000 individual authors through advocacy for the respect and improvement of the writers and literary translators’ moral, legal, and economic rights, and their social status as authors;
• defends the diversity of languages in Europe, multilingualism, and the lesser written languages and their authors;
• advocates for the diversity of literatures in Europe and celebrates its writers and translators, i.e., Day of European Authors (24-27 March) World Book Day (23 April), and the European Day of Languages (26 September), and other activities;
• supports and contributes to improve legal and regulatory frameworks for the protection of copyright in digital and/or analogue contexts, and the authors’ status in support of fair contractual conditions, through contributions to the European Parliament, the European Commission, and WIPO;
• stands up for the democratic principles of freedom of speech, and freedom of information;
• promotes equality, inclusion, and diversity, and highlights the role of women writers and translators in society;
• facilitates international and trans-European co-operation, and brings to light the value of the literatures of Europeas an important part of European heritage;
• monitors and conducts surveys on the effects of COVID-19 from 2020-2023, i.e., “The Economic Impact of Covid-19 on Writers and Translators in the European Book Sector” (02/06/2020) and “One year of Crisis – The Winter of our Discontent” 2020-2022 (02/11/2021), and: The Unseen Sequels (June 2023).

International qualifications:

The EWC has been an Official Observer of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for over two decades, and is since 2022 Observer in the sessions of the governing bodies of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
EU Transparency Register Number: 56788289570-24

Historical background: Doing the Rights thing since 1977

The EWC was originally founded in 1977 (Berlin) as the European Writers’ Congress. The first statutes were adopted in 1985, and modified in 2003. EWC began a new era on 21 September, 2006, with its official constitution as an International Non-Profit Association under Belgian law, as Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif/AISBL. In 2009, the official name in English was changed to European Writers’ Council, with the registered acronym EWC.

Internal Task Forces 2025-2027

The EWC has several internal Task forces composed of members of the EWC Board and the Secretariat. Depending on actuality and urgency in cultural policy, priorities may shift. Task forces are formed accordingly or cease their activities (temporarily).

Task force AI is under the leadership of Nina George, Commissioner for Political Affairs, and Nicole Pfister Fetz, Secretary General, who works with Maïa Bensimon, Vice President as well as with  Monika Pfundmeier, 2nd Vice President, & EWC‘ Board Members Claus Ankersen, Conor Kostick and Sebastià Portell as well as Coordinator Zsuzsánna Dóczy.

Task force on the social and professional situation of authors is under the leadership of Nicole Pfister Fetz, Secretary General, who works with Grażyna Plebanek, President, and the Board Members Claus Ankersen, Conor Kostick and Sebastià Portell.

Task Force #freeallwords. Alena Makouskaya (EWC Board Member 2021-2025) was Project Team Leader, together with Eystein Hanssen (Board Member since up from 2021-2027, Vice President 2023-2025) who keeps up the work in the term 2025-2027 together with Nicole Pfister Fetz, Secretary General Further members will be later appointed. Founding members of the project were Nicole Pfister Fetz (Secretary General of the EWC) and Nina George, with the support of Aliaksandra Dvaretskaya (project assistance and coordination) and Ramam Ambramchuk (Media and PR).

External working and experts’ groups:

The EWC is regularly exchanging with associations and federations on European and International level, e.g. CEATL, EFJ, FEP, EIBF from the Book and Text sector, and is often invited for inputs on Surveys commissioned by European entities as the European Parliament or the European Commission.

Member of standing working and experts’ groups (selected list):

• • AI Coalition: Maïa Bensimon, Nicole Pfister Fetz, Nina George, Zsuzsánna Dóczy.
  • PLR International. Representative  Nicole Pfister Fetz, Nina George. Since 2/12/25, PLR International is an official association under Swiss law, with EWC as one of its seven founding members.
  • IFRRO (Authors Group, European Group, Fora): Nicole Pfister Fetz, Nina George, Sebastià Portell.

Organisations interested to apply for membership:

Please contact ewc.secretariat{at)europeanwriterscouncil.eu for further information, subject: EWC Membership Application.

European Writers’ Council (EWC) – Fédération des associations européennes d’écrivains (FAEE) AISBL, Constitution in Brussels, Belgium, as Association internationale sans but lucratif – AISBL, International not-for-profit Association. Date: 21-09-2006. Registration nr. 886.193.681. EWC – European Writers’ Council ® registered European Union Trade Mark, Nr. 018810808. EU Transparency Register: 56788289570-24