(AGENPARL) – ven 15 novembre 2024 Call for proposals for grants for media actions in the area of
communication covering period 2025-2027
EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Contents
1. Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
2. Scope – Objectives, content of media action proposals, activities that can be funded and
principles of the action ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
2.1. Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
2.2. Content of media action proposals ……………………………………………………………………. 6
2.3. Activities that can be funded …………………………………………………………………………….. 7
2.4. Standards and independence ……………………………………………………………………………. 7
3. Available budget…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
4. Timetable and deadlines……………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Admissibility …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Eligibility ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
6.1 Eligible participants …………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
6.2 Non-eligible participants …………………………………………………………………………………. 10
6.3. Specific cases ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
6.4 Eligible Member States ……………………………………………………………………………………. 11
6.5 Eligible activities …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
6.6 Duration …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
6.7. Project budget ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
6.8 Ethics …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion………………………………………………….. 13
7.1 Financial capacity…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
7.2 Operational capacity ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
7.3 Exclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
Evaluation and award procedure ……………………………………………………………………….. 16
Award criteria………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
10. Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements ……………………………………………… 18
10.1 Starting date and project duration …………………………………………………………………… 19
10.2 Form of grant, co-financing, and maximum grant amount …………………………………. 19
10.3 Budget categories and cost eligibility rules ……………………………………………………… 19
10.4 Reporting and payment arrangements …………………………………………………………….. 20
10.5 Visibility of EU funding …………………………………………………………………………………… 21
10.6 Use of actions’ results ……………………………………………………………………………………. 22
Help ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22
12. Important ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 23
13. List of annexes to this call for proposals ……………………………………………………………… 24
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Introduction
This is a call for proposals in order to award action grants in the field of communication. The
procedure will be managed by the Directorate General for Communication of the European
Parliament (EP) in line with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 (EU Financial Regulation).
The objective of the call is to co-finance media actions meeting the objectives and
conditions described in the sections below by news agencies television channels, radio
stations, digital media and written press.
This call for proposals is open to all organisations complying with the criteria described in
the following sections.
Grant agreements will be signed with those organisations who have submitted a proposal
and have been selected for co-financing based on the criteria laid down in this call for
proposals.
The grant agreements will define the precise subject and the conditions for implementation
of the action covered and the maximum amount to be granted by the European Parliament.
The award of grants does not interfere with the independence and autonomy of the
organisations in charge, allowing them to continue working under their usual practices,
according to the objectives and target of the activities envisaged in the grant agreements.
Applicants are invited to read carefully the call documentation on the Funding & Tenders
Portal Topic page, and in particular this Call Document, the Model Grant Agreement, the EU
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual and the Guide for applicants.
These documents provide clarifications and answers to questions potential applicants may
have when preparing your application:
the Call Document (present document) outlines the:
scope, objectives, content of proposal, activities that can be funded and
principles of the action (sections 1 and 2);
timetable and available budget (sections 3 and 4);
admissibility and eligibility conditions, criteria for financial and operational
capacity and exclusion (sections 5, 6 and 7);
evaluation and award procedure (section 8);
award criteria (section 9);
legal and financial set-up of the grant agreement (section 10);
the Online Manual outlines the:
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
procedures to register and submit proposals online via the EU Funding &
Tenders Portal (‘Portal’);
recommendations for the preparation of the application;
the Guide for applicants provides:
? detailed annotations on the provisions in the Grant Agreement to be signed
with the successful applicants (including cost eligibility, payment schedule,
obligations, etc.).
Please also consult the list of annexes to this call for proposals (section 13) for detailed
information.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
1. Background
The European Parliament as the only EU institution elected by universal suffrage aims at
raising citizens’ awareness of the role and democratic values of the European Union as well
as informing on its decision, in order to contribute to a wide public debate and engage with
citizens.
2. Scope – Objectives, content of media action proposals, activities that can be funded
and principles of the action
2.1. Objectives
The objective of the call is to co-finance media actions by news agencies television channels,
radio stations, digital media and written press. Digital media includes both digital-only
media and digital platforms of other media, including content creators that develop news
reports and articles, interviews etc. to be distributed on social media platforms.
These media actions should have a two-fold objective:
1. Provide regular, reliable, pluralistic and non-partisan information on the political
and legislative work of the European Parliament, including information on the
implementation of EU legislation, emphasizing its implications in the European
citizen’s daily lives. Actions can also include monitoring on the implementation of EU
legislation.
2. Contribute to resilience in society against disinformation and information
manipulation through awareness raising, fact-checking and media literacy.
2.2. Content of media action proposals
Applicants must describe in detail in their proposals how they plan to fulfil this two-fold
objective.
Proposals must be clearly and well-defined, researched and fully developed taking all timeschedule and budget considerations into account.
The potential reach, audience and impact of the action in terms of contributing to raise
citizen’s awareness about the European Parliament, to ensure wide dissemination and
geographical balance, are key criteria for awarding the grants.
The actions should be multi-platform with an integration of channels including innovative
media and formats.
Applicants must prove their current levels of audience in their proposals.
Audience outside the 27 EU Member States will not be considered an asset.
In assessing the reach, audience and impact, the following elements will be looked at:
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
new action or fitting into an existing successful format,
number of programmes, articles, videos, posts, podcasts, infographics, etc.,
length of segment in programmes and length of articles etc. devoted to EP / EU
airing days and times / publication days and section,
strategies of distribution and dissemination beyond owned channels,
reach via social media (inter alia: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook,
etc.),
number of times MEPs feature in the action
strategy to contribute to resilience against disinformation and misinformation
The proposals must set up quantified targets using the key performance indicators in
Annex 1 of the Application form (mandatory). Grant beneficiaries will be requested to
report on the actual achievements of the action against the predefined targets. The proposal
should also indicate a methodology for collecting the data and to evaluate the results of the
action.
Applicants should complete their estimations on the performance indicators based on the
most recent data available.
2.3. Activities that can be funded
Examples of supported activities are provided under section 6.5 Eligible activities.
2.4. Standards and independence
Complete editorial freedom will be given to the grant beneficiaries, who must, in turn,
guarantee:
Respect for the values stated in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), namely
human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, pluralism, the rule of law and the respect
for human rights, including the rights of the persons belonging to minorities.
Independence of any public or private instruction, pressure or request – stemming, for
example, from any EU institution, EU Member State or any other State or institution – in
all matters concerning editorial choices (incl. content) concerning the action activities.
The proposed activities will follow general principles such as transparency, nondiscrimination, accuracy, pluralism and independence, including general principles of
editorial independence and high journalistic standards in all respects, including quality
standards as well as ethical standards, and will provide multiple and plural viewpoints when
implementing the action.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
3. Available budget
The available budget for this call is 5 million euro.
The European Parliament reserves the right not to award all available funds or to redistribute
them between the call priorities, depending on the proposals received and the results of the
evaluation.
4. Timetable and deadlines
Timetable and deadlines
Call publication
14 November 2024
Call opening:
14 November 2024
Deadline for submission:
Evaluation (indicative):
Information on evaluation results
(indicative):
Grant agreement signature
(indicative):
15 January 2025 at 17:00 CET
Brussels local time
February – May 2025
June 2025
September 2025
Admissibility
Proposals must be submitted before the deadline for submission (see timetable section 4).
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 parts, annexes and supporting documents at
the time of submitting the proposals. Failure to submit annexes indicated as mandatory
may lead to the inadmissibility of the proposal without further consideration.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
The Application form consists of:
? Part A (to be filled in directly online) — contains administrative information about
the participant and the summarised budget for the project. (Mandatory);
? Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then
assembled and re-uploaded as PDF in the system) — contains the description of the
action; (Mandatory);
? Annex 1 – Key Performance Indicators (KPI) (to be uploaded); (Mandatory);
? Annex 2 – Detailed estimated budget table (to be uploaded); (Mandatory);
? Other annexes and supporting documents listed in Part B of the application form (to
be uploaded in the format requested in the application form and indicated on the
Portal Submission System) (Mandatory).
At proposal submission, the legal representative of the applicant will have to confirm that
(s)he has the mandate to act for the applicant (and its affiliates if any). Moreover, applicants
will have to confirm that the information in their application is correct and complete and
that the participants comply with the conditions for receiving EU funding (especially
eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, etc.). Before signing the grant
agreement each beneficiary (and affiliated entities, if any) will have to confirm this again by
signing a declaration of honour.
The application must be readable, accessible and printable.
Proposals are limited to 20 pages. Excess pages will automatically be made invisible.
Evaluators will not consider any additional pages.
The European Parliament may request further documents at a later stage (for legal entity
validation, financial capacity check, bank account validation, etc.).
Mandatory annexes and supporting documents
Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (directly available in the Submission
System) are mentioned in the application form Part B (Annex I to this call for proposals).
For more information about the submission process (including IT aspects), consult the
Online Manual.
Eligibility
6.1 Eligible participants
The actions supported under this call are mono-beneficiary actions. This means that only
proposals submitted by one single legal entity are eligible. Proposals submitted by a
consortium of partners are not eligible.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
To be eligible for a grant, applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are:
A private legal person constituted and registered as legal entity for at least two
years at the time of application;
A legal person established in one of the Member States of the European Union;
A legal person with no political affiliation 1.
Proposals by pan-European associations (pan-European association means, for the purpose
of this call, an organisation operating in most or all EU Member States) or networks of media
should provide a clear commitment from each of the members participating in the action to
publish or broadcast part or the totality of the media content produced by the association
or network (see section 7.2).
Other entities that may participate in the action are affiliated entities (see section 6.3) and
subcontractors 2.
Beneficiaries and affiliated entities, if any, must register in the Participant Register 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.
For more information, see Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and
Financial Capacity Assessment.
The European Parliament may ask an applicant to provide additional information or to clarify
the supporting documents submitted.
6.2 Non-eligible participants
The following entities are not eligible:
natural persons;
international organisations and EU bodies;
public authorities and governmental organisation and bodies.
In line with the non-political affiliation criteria (see section 6.1), entities in which Members
of the European Parliament hold executive functions on their administrative Board or any
other executive body of their organisation, are ineligible under the call. The same applies for
entities that qualify as a political party active at European, national, regional or local level,
as well as for their youth organisation or foundations.
Political affiliation means membership of or close association with a political party.
Subcontractor means economic operator that is proposed by a beneficiary to perform part of tasks cofinanced by a grant.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
6.3. Specific cases
Affiliated entities are allowed under the following conditions:
legal entities
having a legal or capital link with applicants,
which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its
implementation (e.g. members of networks, federations, trade unions).
Affiliated entities may take part in the action and declare eligible costs.
Affiliated entities are allowed on the condition that they satisfy the eligibility and nonexclusion criteria of an applicant.
Supporting documents proving the legal link between the applicant and the affiliated entity
– if not provided with the application – will be requested during the evaluation phase of the
application.
EU restrictive measures – special rules apply for certain entities (e.g. entities subject to EU
restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article
215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). Such entities are not eligible to
participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors or
recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
The European Parliament may request supplementary explanations and (or) documentary
evidence on the compliance with the restrictive measures from an applicant at any moment
of the procedure.
6.4 Eligible Member States
Entities from all EU Member States are eligible.
6.5 Eligible activities
To be eligible, the activities and projects must meet the objectives and principles of this call
and take the appropriate form as set out in section 2. Applications will only be considered
eligible if their content corresponds, wholly or in part, to section 2 and this section.
Supported activities may include, but are not limited to:
? TV shows or parts of them, including integration of slots in shows with established
viewing figures or in peak times; audience outside the EU27 is not considered in the
evaluation.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
? Radio programmes, including integration of slots in programmes with established
airing figures or in peak times; audience outside EU27 is not considered an asset.
? Reports, news, opinion articles, blogs, debates, interviews, etc. (both in multimedia
and written formats), including actions targeting EU-based citizens in non-EU
languages.
? Multimedia actions with high views and engagement rates, including distribution via
social media, engagement and other forms of interaction with public, including
actions targeting EU-based citizens in non-EU languages.
? Actions with a trans-European dimension (cooperation of different media across
Europe).
? Actions that contribute to fact-checking and to counter disinformation, providing a
high level of audience, including actions targeting EU-based citizens in non-EU
languages.
? Polls, data visualisation, surveys and other forms of visual and interactive
communication.
The proposals can combine several of these activities in order to amplify their reach.
Involvement of Members of the European Parliament must be politically balanced.
6.6 Duration
The actions proposed shall have a duration of at least 6 months and take place between
September 2025 and March 2027.
Extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment.
6.7. Project budget
As an indication, proposals are expected to request a contribution from the European
Parliament (maximum grant amount per project) between EUR 30.000 and EUR 150.000
(see section 10.2).
This does not preclude the submission/selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.
6.8 Ethics
Projects must comply with ethical principles and applicable EU, international and national
law and may not have a military focus nor be against the democratic values of the European
Union.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
7.1 Financial capacity
Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their activity
throughout the period during which the action is being carried out and, where appropriate,
to participate in its funding. The analysis of the financial capacity will be based on neutral
financial indicators allowing in particular, the assessment of financial dependency on EU
funding and the liquidity of the applicant.
As a minimum requirement, applicants should have an average turnover/income in the
last 2 financial years of at least 100% of the total cost of the action.
Supporting documents
The applicant’s financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting
documents:
A financial statement (including the balance sheet, the profit and loss accounts and
the annexes) for the last 2 financial years for which accounts have been closed.
The Restructured Simplified Accounting Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss
Accounts over the last 2 financial years, dully filled in (template available in the
Submission System).
7.2 Operational capacity
Applicants must have the know-how, qualifications and resources to successfully
implement the actions.
This capacity will be assessed on the basis of the competence and experience of the
applicants and their teams, including operational resources (human, technical and other) or,
exceptionally, the measures proposed to obtain it by the time the action starts.
Applicants will have to show their capacity via the following information in the Application
Form and supporting documents.
? At least 2 years’ proven communication experience
? in at least one of the following categories: news agencies, television channels,
radio stations, digital media, written press. Digital media includes both digital-only
media and digital platforms of other media, including content creators that develop
news reports and articles, interviews etc. to be distributed on social media platforms
? Human resources whose competencies and qualifications include :
o experience in journalism;
o experience in animation of online communities;
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
o sound knowledge in European affairs;
o project management experience (proven capacity to manage projects of
that scope based on projects and activities performed in the last 2 years).
Supporting documents:
In order to demonstrate their operational capacity applicants must submit the following
supporting documents:
curriculum vitae or description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for
managing and implementing the action;
the organisation’s annual activity report for the last 2 years;
a list of previous projects and activities performed in the last 2 years and
connected to the actions to be carried out.
evidence to prove past and current levels of reach. This evidence should be backed
up by the national monitoring authority or a third party monitoring body (e.g.
Eurobarometer, TNS, IPSOS, GFK, Reuters, Nielsen, Médiamétrie, Kantar, Gallup,
CIM, AGF, Google analytics, Estudio General de Medios or equivalent);
if applicable, declarations of each of the members of the pan-European associations
and networks of media participating in the action on their commitment to publish or
broadcast a part or the totality of the media content produced under the action.
The European Parliament may reject applicants that did not provide relevant, sufficient or
clear supporting documents, and therefore failed to prove the four points mentioned above.
The European Parliament is not obliged to ask an applicant to provide additional information
or to clarify the supporting documents submitted.
Applications that fail to meet the financial or operational criteria will not be examined
further.
7.3 Exclusion
Applicants which are subject to EU administrative sanctions (i.e. exclusion or financial
penalty decision) 3 or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from
receiving EU funding can NOT participate:
? bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with
creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including
procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts);
See Article 138 of EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
? in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with
unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
? guilty of grave professional misconduct 4 (including if done by persons having powers
of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are
essential for the award/implementation of the grant) ;
? committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering,
terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human
trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decisionmaking or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the
award/implementation of the grant);
? shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU
procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including
if done by persons having powers of representation, decision making or control,
beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the
grant);
? guilty of irregularities within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2988/95
(including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision making or
control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the
award/implementation of the grant);
? created under a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or
other legal obligations in the country of origin or created another entity with this
purpose (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision
making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the
award/implementation of the grant);
? intentionally and without proper justification resisted an investigation, check or audit
carried out by the awarding authority or auditor, OLAF, the EPPO or the Court of
Auditors.
Applicants will also be refused if it turns out that 5:
during the award procedure they misrepresented information required as a condition
for participating or failed to supply that information;
they were previously involved in the preparation of the call and this entails a
distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise (conflict of interest).
Professional misconduct includes: violation of ethical standards of the profession, wrongful conduct with
impact on professional credibility, false declarations/misrepresentation of information, participation in a
cartel or other agreement distorting competition, violation of IPR, attempting to influence decisionmaking processes or obtain confidential information from public authorities to gain advantage, incitement
to discrimination, hatred or violence contrary to the value of Article 2 TUE.
See Article 143 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Supporting documents:
Applicants must sign and submit as part of their application a declaration on their honour
(see section 13 – List of Annexes) certifying that they are not in one of the exclusion
situation referred to in Articles 138(1) and 143(1) of the Financial Regulation.
Evaluation and award procedure
The proposals will have to follow the standard submission and evaluation procedure.
Proposals will be checked for formal requirements (admissibility and eligibility). Proposals
found admissible and eligible will be evaluated by an evaluation committee for operational
capacity and award criteria (see sections 7 and 9) and then ranked according to their quality
score taking into the best possible geographical spread and the widest audience.
All applicants will be informed about the evaluation result (evaluation result letter). For
applications that successfully passed the evaluation, applicants will be invited for grant
agreement preparation; other will be put on the reserve list or rejected. Applicants, whose
proposal is on the reserve list, may be contacted for a grant if additional budget becomes
available.
Invitation for grant preparation does NOT constitute a formal commitment for funding.
The European Parliament will carry out various legal checks before the grant is awarded:
legal entity validation, financial capacity, exclusion check, etc.
If applicants have questions on the evaluation procedure, they can submit a request for
information on the evaluation results (following the deadlines and procedures set out in the
evaluation result letter).
Grant agreement preparation will involve a dialogue in order to fine-tune technical or
financial aspects of the project and may require extra information from the applicant. It may
also include adjustments to the proposal to address recommendations of the evaluation
committee or other concerns. Compliance will be a pre-condition for signing the grant.
Award criteria
All admissible proposals fulfilling the eligibility and operational criteria will be assessed in
accordance with the award criteria listed below and ranked in order of merit according to
the points received.
In order to ensure the best possible geographical spread and attract the widest audience,
proposals from the same country will be ranked against each other and only the proposals
with the highest-score may be shortlisted.
The content of each proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Award criteria
Maximum
score
1. Relevance of the action
Relevance of the action with regards to the objectives of the call, including
how it relates to the work of the European Parliament and its contribution to 20
build resilience against disinformation (see section 2 of this call).
2. Quality of the action
Detailed description of activities and deliverables, paying particular attention
to the list of key performance indicators (Annex 1 of the application form).
Suitable choice of activities with respect to objectives and action strategy,
adequate communication mix, synergy between the activities, including the
distribution on different platforms. Suitable indicative timetable of the
planned activities.
Innovative approach: multimedia formats and integration of channels.
Quality of the methodology (internal organisation, evaluation, use of data, 30
segmentation and target strategy indicators).
Sound journalistic standards, including but not limited to, methods to ensure
accuracy, independence and professional reporting,
Sustainability of the action (foreseen measures to, if economically feasible,
continue the action beyond the implementation period of the grant in the
absence of EP financial support. Uploading the articles/videos/podcasts etc.
on a website so they are available for an open-ended period is not sufficient
to comply with this criteria).
3. Reach
Expected reach of the action (as measured based on the performance
indicators provided in Annex 1) including reach beyond own channels. Reach
can be regional, national or focused on a given target group. Audience 30
outside EU27 is not considered an asset.
Expected participation of audiences, capacity to generate engagement
beyond own channels.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Reach strategy: overall coherence, precision and robustness of the proposals
described in the Application Form and in Annex 1 to distribute content and
to engage audiences.
4. Budget and cost effectiveness
Suitable allocation of the resources in relation to the objectives and scope of
the activities.
Clear description of the estimated costs and accuracy of the budget.
Consistency between the estimated costs and deliverables.
Realistic estimation of costs of action coordination and of activities
implemented by the applicant, including number and rate of person/days.
Proper justification for subcontracting the implementation of part of the
action. Clear description of the task to be performed by subcontractors and
affiliated entities.
Suitable arrangements for monitoring/supervision of the action.
Identification of possible risks, their impact and proposed measures to
mitigate them.
Overall score
Maximum points: 100 points – Overall threshold: 60,5 points with at least 20 points in the
Reach criterion.
Project proposals obtaining 60 points or less will not be considered for the award of a grant.
Proposals that pass the overall threshold and specific threshold will be considered for
funding — within the limits of the available call budget. A reserve list of proposals that have
passed the required thresholds will be established, and may be considered for funding in
case an additional budget would become available.
Other proposals will be rejected.
Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements
If a proposal succeeds the evaluation, the applicant will be invited for grant preparation,
where it will be asked to prepare the grant agreement together with the European
Parliament concerned services.
This grant agreement will set the framework for the grant and its terms and conditions, in
particular concerning the action implementation, reporting and payments.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
The model grant agreement that will be used (and all other relevant templates and guidance
documents) can be found on the European Parliament website dedicated to Grants as well
as on Portal Reference Documents and are annexed to this call for proposals.
10.1 Starting date and project duration
The project starting date and duration will be fixed in the grant agreement (Article I.2) on
the basis of the data indicated in the Application form and in line with requirements
indicated in section 6.6.
Normally the starting date of the action will be after grant signature. A retroactive starting
date can be granted exceptionally for duly justified reasons.
10.2 Form of grant, co-financing, and maximum grant amount
The grant parameters (maximum grant amount, co-financing, total eligible costs, etc.) will
be fixed in the grant agreement (Article I.3).
The indicative maximum grant amount per project is expected to be between EUR 30 000
and EUR 150.000 (see section 6.7).
The grant will take the form of the reimbursement of a specified proportion of eligible costs
actually incurred. This means that it will reimburse ONLY certain types of costs (eligible
costs) and ONLY costs you actually incurred by the beneficiary and its affiliated entities, if
any, in relation to the project (NOT the budgeted costs).
The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the grant agreement.
The maximum co-financing is 60% of the action’s eligible costs actually incurred by the
beneficiary and its affiliated entities.
Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the detailed estimated budget
must be financed from sources other than the grant (e.g. own contributions, income
generated by the action, financial contributions from third parties).
Moreover, please be aware that the final grant amount may be reduced in case of noncompliance with the Grant Agreement (e.g. improper implementation such as nonachievement of results measures through performance indicators, breach of
obligations, etc.).
10.3 Budget categories and cost eligibility rules
The budget categories and cost eligibility rules are fixed in the grant agreement (Article II.19
and II.21). For more information, please refer to the Guide for applicants.
The conditions for eligibility of costs are defined in Article 189(3) of Regulation (EU,
EURATOM) 2024/2509.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Budget categories for this call:
A. Personnel costs:
A.1: employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons.
B. Subcontracting costs – subcontracting of action tasks is subject to special rules and must
be approved by the European Parliament (either as part of the proposal, by amendment
during the implementation of the action or in the final report). Subcontracting is allowed
except for action’s core tasks and subject to strict limits (see Guide for applicants).
C. Purchase costs:
? C.1 Travel and subsistence.
? C.2 Equipment.
? C.3 Other goods, works and services.
D. Other cost categories: Not applicable
E. Indirect costs – flat rate of 7% of direct eligible costs.
Specific cost eligibility conditions for this call:
? VAT: non-deductible VAT is eligible (but please note that since 2013 VAT paid by
beneficiaries that are public bodies acting as public authority is NOT eligible).
? Applicants are strongly advised to include in their proposal a civil and liability
insurance or other equivalent insurance covering the planned events. The costs will
be eligible under other good, works and services (category C.3).
? CFS audit costs: for grants above EUR 60.000, the beneficiary must submit with its
request for final payment a certificate on the financial statements (CFS) established
by an independent auditor. Costs incurred in relation to the CFS are eligible under
costs category C.3. – Other goods, works or services, provided that they fulfil the
general eligibility conditions.
? Other categories of costs such as financial support to third parties are not eligible
for this call.
For more information, see the Guide for applicants.
10.4 Reporting and payment arrangements
The reporting and payment arrangements are fixed in the Grant Agreement (Article I.4).
After grant signature, beneficiaries will receive a pre-financing payment to start working
on the project (up to 60% of the maximum grant amount). The pre-financing will be paid 30
days from the entry into force of the grant agreement.
There will be no interim payments.
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
At the end of the project, the European Parliament will calculate the final grant amount. If
the total of earlier payments is higher than the final grant amount, the European Parliament
will ask the beneficiary to pay back the difference (recovery).
All payments will be made to the beneficiary signing the grant agreement.
Please note that beneficiaries are responsible for keeping records on all the work done and
the costs declared (Articles II.27.2).
For more information see the Guide for applicants.
10.5 Visibility of EU funding
In accordance with the grant agreement, grants beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the
European Union’s contribution.
Grant beneficiaries are free to choose between the two following options:
a) displaying the European Union emblem and indicating that the action has received
funding from the EU in all publications and in conjunction with all activities for which
the grant is used,
b) setting up an online page aggregating all the content produced and published as well
as all the events organised within this grant framework. This aggregation space must
display the EU emblem, indicate that the action has received EU funding, and include
the following disclaimer in the relevant language or languages of the action: “The
action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European
Parliament’s grant programme in the field of communication. The European
Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or
bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In
accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or
programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also
not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the
implementation of the action.” This online aggregation space must remain publicly
available during the implementation of the action and seven years afterwards.
The obligation to display the European Union emblem does not confer to the beneficiary a
right of exclusive use. The beneficiary shall not appropriate the European Union emblem,
EP logo or any similar trademark or logo, either by registration or by any other means.
For the purposes of the second, third and fourth subparagraphs and under the conditions
specified therein, the beneficiary is exempted from the obligation to obtain prior permission
from the Parliament to use the European Union emblem.
Guidelines on the use of the EU emblem are available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/eu-emblem-rules_en.pdf
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Where possible, a disclaimer should be used in conjunction with the EU emblem (see Guide
for applicants).
10.6 Use of actions’ results
Without prejudice to the fact that ownership of the results of the action, including industrial
and intellectual property rights, and of the reports and other documents relating to it, shall
be vested in the beneficiary, the beneficiary grants the Union the right to use the results of
the action for the purposes specified in the grant agreement (Article II.9.3).
As far as possible, applicants are invited to read and consult the following documents
before addressing their question to the European Parliament:
? Online Manual.
? Portal FAQ (for general questions).
Please also consult the Topic page regularly, since it will be used to publish call updates.
Contact
For individual questions on the Portal Submission System, please contact the IT Helpdesk.
Please indicate clearly the reference of the call to which your question relates (see cover
page).
Call for proposals EP-COMM-SUBV-2025-MEDIA
Important
IMPORTANT
Don’t wait until the end — Applicants must complete their application sufficiently in advance of the deadline to avoid any last minute technical
problems. Problems due to last minute submissions (e.g. congestion, etc.) will be entirely at the applicant’s risk. Call deadlines can NOT be
extended.
Consult the EP DG COMM Grants webpage (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/contracts-and-grants/en/grants/media-and-events) and Portal
Topic page regularly where updates and additional information on the call are published.
Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Exchange System — By submitting the application, all participants accept to use the electronic
exchange system in accordance with the Portal Terms & Conditions.
Registration — Before submitting the application, all beneficiaries and affiliated entities must be registered in the Participant Register. The
participant identification code (PIC) (one per participant) is mandatory for the Application Form. If your entity is not registered yet, please be
reactive and provide the necessary documents as soon as possible.
Balanced project budget — Grant applications must ensure a balanced project budget and sufficient other resources to implement the project
successfully (e.g. own contributions, income generated by the action, financial contributions from third parties, etc.).
No double funding — There is a strict prohibition of double funding from the EU budget. Any given action may receive only ONE grant from
the EU budget and cost items may under NO circumstances declared to two different EU actions.
Completed/ongoing projects — Proposals for projects that have already been completed will be rejected.
Combination with EU operating grants — Combination with EU operating grants is possible, if the action remains outside the operating grant
work programme and cost items are clearly separated in the accounting and NOT declared twice.
Multiple proposals — Applicants may submit more than one proposal for different actions under the same call. However, only one proposal
per participant will be retained for being awarded a grant.
Organisations may participate in several proposals.
BUT: if there are several proposals related to the same/very similar project, only one application will be accepted and evaluated; the applicants
will be asked to withdraw one of them (or it will be rejected).
Resubmission — Proposals may be changed and re-submitted until the deadline for submission.
Rejection — By submitting the application, all applicants accept the call conditions set out in this Call Document (and the documents it refers
to). Proposals that do not comply with all the call conditions will be rejected.
Cancellation — There may be circumstances which may require the cancellation of the call. In this case, applicants will be informed via a call
or topic update. Please note that cancellations are without entitlement to compensation.
Language — Proposals may be submitted in any official EU language. For reasons of efficiency, we strongly advise applicants to use English
or French for the entire application. A translation of the project’s abstract in English or French should be included in the proposal. Call
documentation in another official EU language may be s requested within 10 days after call publication (for the contact information, see section
11 of this document).
Data Protection —The submission of a proposal under this call involves the collection, use and processing of personal data. This data will be
processed in accordance with the applicable legal framework. It will be processed solely for the purpose of evaluating your proposal, subsequent
management of the grant and, if needed, programme monitoring, evaluation and communication. Details are explained in the Funding & Tenders