European Commission announces Call for Proposals on Media Freedom and Investigative Journalism

Deadline: 27 September 2019

The European Commission has announced a call for proposal on Media Freedom and Investigative Journalism.

Actions

Action 1 – Pilot Project: A Europe-wide response mechanism for violation of press and media freedom
Action 2 – Preparatory Action: cross-border investigative journalism fund
Action 3 – Pilot Project: Supporting investigative journalism and media freedom in the EU

Funding Information

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at 4.175.000 EUR (four million one hundred and seventy five thousand euros). The breakdown per Action is as follows:
- Action 1: 1.400.000 EUR (one million four hundred thousand euros)
- Action 2: 1.500.000 EUR (one million five hundred thousand euros)
- Action 3: 1.275.000 EUR (one million two hundred seventy five thousand euros)

Eligible applicants

The call is open to:
- For projects under Actions 1 and 2:
  - Groupings of entities (consortia) – with the entities forming this consortia having or not entities affiliated to them
- For projects under Action 3 only:
  - Single entities
  - A ‘sole’ applicant
  - Groupings of entities (consortia) – with the entities forming this consortia having or not entities affiliated to them.
For projects under all three actions, proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants or combinations of:
- non-profit organisation (private or public);
- international organisations;
- universities;
- educational institutions;
- research centres.
Natural persons are not eligible except if:
- they are self-employed persons or equivalent (i.e. sole traders) where the company does not possess legal personality separate from that of the natural person.
- they are part of a consortium. However, projects cannot be coordinated by a natural person.
For Action 3 only: profit-making entities as part of a consortium. However, projects cannot be coordinated by such entities.
For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, applicant will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project.
Country of establishment – for Actions 1, 2 and 3
- Only applications from legal entities established in the following countries are eligible:
  - EU Member States;
  - EFTA and EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland. Applications from legal entities established in EFTA and EEA countries are eligible as part of a consortium but the projects cannot be coordinated by an entity established in an EFTA or EEA country.
  - Candidate Countries. Applications from legal entities established in candidate countries are eligible as part of a consortium but the projects cannot be coordinated by an entity established in a candidate country.
Consortium requirements – for Actions 1 and 2
- In order to be eligible, a proposal must be submitted by a consortium composed of at least two legal entities.

Eligible activities

The following types of activities are eligible under Action 1 of this call for proposals:
- cooperation projects;
- conferences, seminars;
- training activities;
- awareness and dissemination actions;
- actions aiming at the creation and improvement of networks, exchanges of good practices;
- actions aiming at the creation and improvement of digital tools;
- studies, analyses, mapping projects;
- legal and practical support to journalists;
- advocacy missions;
- financial support to third parties
The following types of activities are eligible under Action 2 of this call for proposals:
- conferences, seminars;
- training activities;
- awareness and dissemination actions;
- advocacy missions;
- legal and practical support to journalists;
- financial support to third parties
The following types of activities are eligible under Action 3 of this call for proposals:
- cooperation projects;
- conferences, seminars;
- training activities;
- awareness and dissemination actions;
- actions aiming at the creation and improvement of networks, exchanges of good practices;
- actions aiming at the creation and improvement of digital tools;
- studies, analyses, mapping projects;
- advocacy missions.
- financial support to third parties