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Call key data
NEWS - Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism
Funding Program
Creative Europe - Cross-Sectoral Strand
Call number
CREA-CROSS-2025-MFP
deadlines
Opening
24.10.2024
Deadline
15.01.2025 17:00
Funding rate
90%
Call budget
€ 3,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Within the specific objective of promoting policy cooperation and innovative actions supporting all strands of the Programme, including the promotion of a diverse and pluralistic media environment, media literacy and social inclusion, the priorities of the cross-sectoral strand shall include to promote cross-sectoral activities aiming at adjusting to the structural changes faced by the media sector, including enhancing a free, diverse, and pluralistic media environment, quality journalism and media literacy including in the digital environment.
Call objectives
The Cross-sectoral strand shall provide support to cross-cutting actions that support the news media sector, which shall:
- address the structural and technological changes faced by the media sector by promoting an independent and pluralistic media environment, including by supporting independent monitoring for assessing risks and challenges to media pluralism and freedom, and by supporting awareness-raising activities.
The European Democracy Action Plan stresses that physical and online threats and attacks on journalists are on the rise in several Member States and proposes sustainable funding for projects with a focus on legal and practical assistance to journalists in the EU and elsewhere, including safety and cybersecurity training for journalists and diplomatic support. The Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report refers to physical and online threats and attacks on journalists as a persistent issue across Europe. In September 2021 the Commission adopted a Recommendation on ensuring the protection, safety and empowerment of journalists and other media professionals in the European Union.
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Expected effects and impacts
This action is expected to provide practical help to protect journalists under threat, including concrete tools such as advice and legal support as well as offering shelter and logistical assistance thereby enabling the targeted journalists to continue pursuing their professional activities. This can include financial support when needed. The project will also organise visits to affected countries. Anti-impunity action shall be supported through advocacy. The tools used will be adjusted to accommodate individual needs on a case-by-case basis.
Violations of press and media freedom will be systematically and comprehensively monitored across the EU, countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme and candidate countries in order to ensure the provision of reliable and comprehensive information on such violations to the general public as well as to the European institutions. The monitoring should be geared to ensure early warnings about violations. The alerts related to EU, countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme and candidate countries will be systematically published on a dedicated website. Regular reports listing all alerts and identifying main trends will also be published. Such monitoring will generate data and insights beyond the scope or reach of several existing monitoring tools, covering, in particular, risks to media freedom and pluralism as well as selected serious incidents and authorities’ reactions to such incidents.
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Expected results
Activities that can be funded:
- Design and manage a Europe-wide rapid response mechanism to support media freedom and journalists' safety, covering all EU Member States, countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme and candidate countries;
- Provide legal and practical support to journalists and other media practitioners in need;
- Organise advocacy missions to locations where journalists are under threat;
- Monitor the state of media freedom in the EU Member States, countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme and candidate countries;
- Organise awareness raising campaigns in the field of media freedom and safety of journalists;
- Ensure communication and dissemination activities;
- Monitor and evaluate the action.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Albania (Shqipëria), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Liechtenstein, Montenegro (Црна Гора), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Ukraine (Україна)
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries i.e.:
- Creative Europe Participating Countries:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories)
- non-EU countries (listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Creative Europe Programme (list of participating countries)
- Creative Europe Participating Countries:
Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person.
International organisations — International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’ . Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).
The host organisations of Creative Europe Desks are eligible as coordinator or beneficiary in open calls, if they have procedures to segregate the project management and the information provision functions and if they are able to demonstrate cost separation (i.e., that their project grants do not cover any costs which are covered by their other grant). This requires the following:
- use of analytical accounting which allows for a cost accounting management with cost allocation keys and cost accounting codes AND application of these keys and codes to identify and separate the costs (i.e., to allocate them to either one of the two grants)
- recording of all real costs incurred for the activities that are covered by the two grants (including the indirect costs)
- allocation of the costs in a way that leads to a fair, objective and realistic result.
Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations (see list above) may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature (with retroactive effect, if provided in the agreement).
other eligibility criteria
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least two applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities), which complies with the following conditions:
- minimum two independent entities from two different eligible countries
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.
Financial support to third parties is allowed for grants and prizes under the following conditions:
- the application includes an exhaustive list of the types of activities for which a third party may receive financial support out of the following fixed list:
- Direct support to journalists facing threats (security or legal expenses);
- Ad hoc support to NGOs active in the field of media freedom and safety of journalism.
- the application includes the definition of the persons or categories of persons which may receive financial support out of the following categories:
- Journalists and media practitioners (natural persons);
- NGOs.
- the application includes the criteria for awarding financial support
- the application includes the maximum amount to be granted to each third party and the criteria for determining it.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
24 months
Additional Information
Proposals must be submitted before the call deadline.
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section. Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System ( NOT the documents available on the Topic page — they are only for information).
Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)
- Part C — contains additional project data and the project’s contribution to EU programme key performance indicators (to be filled in directly online)
Page limit - part B: 70 pages
Call documents
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