NEWS – Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism Programme

Objective

• To safeguard, develop and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage;
• To increase the competitiveness and the economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector.

Goals

• Cross Sectoral Strand
  • Promoting policy cooperation and innovative actions supporting all strands of the Programme, promoting a diverse, independent and pluralistic media environment, and media literacy, thereby fostering freedom of artistic expression, intercultural dialogue and social inclusion.

Funding Information

• The estimated available call budget is EUR 3000000.

Eligible Activities

• 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

• 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 (OCTs))
    • Non-EU countries: Listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Creative Europe Programme.
  • Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.
  • Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions, etc.

For more information, visit European Commission.