The European Broadcasting Union plans to replace the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group with a new committee that gives member broadcasters more power over the contest’s strategy, according to a note from Belgian broadcaster VRT.

The change came to light Wednesday as VRT and Dutch broadcaster NPO confirmed they will take part in Eurovision 2027. VRT shared a background note with journalists, which Songfestival.be has seen. The note says a new “Eurovision Song Contest Committee” will reform the current Reference Group, report to the EBU Executive Board and hand strategic decision-making power back to EBU members.

The EBU has not published the committee’s membership, chair or start date.

The reform follows months of pressure from several public broadcasters over how the contest is run. VRT’s note says the new rules and amendments adopted so far at least move toward what the broadcaster asked for. Those requests were a stronger framework of values as a condition of taking part, closer attention to governance and a bigger role for members in decisions about the contest’s organisation.

The note also says the contest’s mission and values will get a more prominent place in the rules and the voting system will be tightened, though details of the voting changes are not yet available. It cites the departure of main sponsor Moroccanoil as another reason VRT felt able to return.

EBU Director General Noel Curran pointed to the governance changes in his response to VRT’s decision. “We have taken important steps to strengthen governance, dialogue, and the anchoring of our values,” Curran said.

The Reference Group was formed by the EBU’s Television Committee in 1998 and meets five to six times a year. Its tasks include approving format and rule changes, securing financing, modernising the brand and overseeing each year’s preparations by the host broadcaster. Its members are a chair, three people elected by the heads of delegation, two executive producers from previous host countries and the executive producer of the current host broadcaster.

Ana María Bordas, RTVE’s director of content production, chairs the group. She was elected in March 2025 to a two-year term by an absolute majority of the EBU’s TV Committee and took over from Bakel Walden of SRG SSR after the Basel contest. It is not clear what role the current members will have in the new structure.

The group approved the voting overhaul for the 2026 contest. That package limited promotion by third parties, including government-backed campaigns, halved the voting cap and brought professional juries back to the semi-finals. As recently as Tuesday, the EBU described the Reference Group as the contest’s governing body in a statement responding to RTVE.

The committee is the latest in a series of changes to how the EBU runs Eurovision. A restructure before the 2025 contest created the posts of ESC director and commercial director, filled by Martin Green and Jurian van der Meer. The executive supervisor role was abolished before the 2026 contest and replaced by an executive producer post, first held by Gert Kark.

The governance reforms weighed heavily on broadcasters deciding whether to return. VRT CEO Frederik Delaplace said taking part does not endorse or normalise events in Gaza or elsewhere, but that the EBU no longer avoids difficult geopolitical questions. NPO Executive Board Chair Jet de Ranitz said NPO had asked the EBU to put the contest’s unifying character back at the centre of the event.

Not every broadcaster is convinced. RTVE Chair José Pablo López told a Spanish parliamentary committee that his position has not changed and that Spain should keep boycotting the contest. Ireland will again stay away from the next edition.

The 71st Eurovision Song Contest will take place at Arena Burgas in Bulgaria, with semi-finals May 11 and 13 and the final May 15, 2027.