News Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism

• 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 should 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 in 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.

• 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 with the Creative Europe Programme (list of participating countries).
• Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least two applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities), which complies with the following conditions:
  • minimum 2 independent entities from 2 different eligible countries.
• Proposals may be submitted by any of the following applicants or combinations of nonprofit organisation (private or public), international organisations, universities,
  educational institutions, and research centres.

Activities than 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.

• Project budget (requested grant amount): No limit.
• The grant will be a budget-based (actual costs, with unit cost and flat-rate elements).
• The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (90%).
• Grants may NOT produce a profit (i.e. surplus of revenues + EU grant over costs). Forprofit organisations must declare their revenues and, if there is a profit, it will be deducted it from the final grant amount.
• Please read News Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism 2027 Call document for full details.