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Shaping Europe’s digital future
Call for proposals | Publication

European media platforms

The Commission is launching a 5,98 M € call for proposals to set up European media platforms projects, aiming to improve Union citizens’ access to trusted information across the Union. Projects should stimulate ways to develop technical systems to enhance and expand a quality news content and/or programming offer based on high quality standards and European rights and values. Platforms should allow content to be available in multiple European languages.

Applicants are invited to expand the use of well-established online offers when needed and support cooperation on a European scale in increasing the availability of original reporting, helping them reach new audiences. Applicants should thus explain how these platforms would allow to effectively handling the content or contain sufficient methods for content search and discovery systems.

The transparency and openness of technical tools and editorial arrangements are fundamental components of the call. Users should feel safe, informed when accessing information and protected from undesired manipulation techniques. When used, algorithms should be explainable and verifiable, and designed to accommodate citizens’ fundamental rights as well as values traditionally linked to news quality standards, such as fact-based communication, unbiased reporting, independence, pluralism, diversity of viewpoints, fairness, transparency, and respect for human dignity, equality and human rights.

As part of this Action, the European Parliament requests that platforms’ translation facilities have to be deployed in, tentatively, 8 to 10 languages: English, German, French, Italian and Spanish, plus three to five other European languages representing diverse geographic regions in the Union. These technical arrangements should be combined with a credible multilingual news content offer consistently reachable across as many Union countries as possible.

The call is open to news media companies –incl. broadcasters and publishers-, media technology developers and other organisations active in the news media domain. Applicants are invited to involve as many organisations as possible in view of expanding the reach and systemic impact of the proposed projects.

The territorial focus of the action are the European Union Member States. Proposals must gather news media organisations from at least five EU Member states. Only applications from legal entities established in the EU member states are eligible under this call.

The grant agreement will include a charter of independence to make sure that applicants are editorially free and operate without any political interference. 

The maximum co-financing rate of is 80% of the total eligible costs. The Commission expects to fund 2 to 3 proposals, with an expected duration of 12 months. The maximum amount per grant has been set at EUR 3,4 Mio. The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

The call for proposals, application forms and all relevant documents and available here below. Questions can be sent until 5 working days before the deadline.  

Expected results

This action will fund the setup and development of European media platforms, increasing the available offer of quality information across the Union. As a result, citizens will have access to quality content in multiple languages, representing the different geographic regions of Europe, helping to increase their trust in quality news content online.

The action will help create the underlying conditions to develop a cross-border media public sphere, by improving the circulation and consumption of European news content.

The expected duration of projects is between 12 and 15 months.

More information

This activity is the result of a preparatory action approved by the European Parliament in 2021.

Downloads

00. Questions and answers - Version 5 October
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01. Call European Media Platforms
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02. Grant Application Form
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03. Annex III Estimated budget - Multibeneficiary
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04. Financial viability checktool
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05. Declaration of honour
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06. Model Grant Agreement - Multibeneficiaries
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07. Financial identification form
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08. Legal entity form - Private entities
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09. Legal entity form - Public entities
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10. Privacy Statement
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