Washington, DC-based subscription news site Politico is teaming up with Berlin-based media company Axel Springer to launch a European news site based in Brussels, according to a press release issued by Politico. The new site will be dedicated to “offering in-depth coverage of European politics and policy,” particularly centered on the European Union, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.The new site is being billed as a 50-50 venture between the two companies that will be set up as a “stand-alone enterprise.”The assumption is that the new site will follow Politico’s freemium model that drives traffic through fast-paced online news and revenues through premium niche subscriptions.Politico bought Capital New York last September, an acquisition that gave the company a foothold in New York. Shortly thereafter, Capital New York re-launched as Capital and began offering subscriptions priced over $1,000/year.Meanwhile, Axel Springer, owner of Bild, Europe’s top-selling newspaper, as well as German newspaperDie Welt and the German edition of Rolling Stone, has seen its own success, generating $3.6 billion in annual revenue. The company is divided into three operating segments: paid models, marketing models and classified ad models. The move is a smart one, as niche publications can often achieve market saturation more quickly than general, B2C publications. While publications of old may have been tempted to expand its brand name and launch in related niches (health, educations, etc.), staying true to one’s topical area but searching for a new geographic market allows some publications to leverage its internal resource (i.e., seasoned reporters and editors) more wisely.