Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme

The objectives of the Programme

The programme pursues the following specific objectives, based on four strands: 

• to safeguard and promote the Union's values (Union values strand)
• to promote rights, non-discrimination and equality, including gender equality, and to promote gender mainstreaming and non-discrimination mainstreaming (Equality, Rights and Gender Equality strand) 
• to promote citizens' involvement and participation in the democratic life of the Union and exchanges between citizens of different Member States and to make them aware of their common European history (Citizens' engagement and participation strand)
• to fight violence, including gender-based violence (Daphne strand)

Objective 1 - Union Values strand

Under this specific objective, the programme aims to protect and promote rights and to raise awareness about them by providing financial support to civil society organisations working at local, regional, national and transnational level to promote and nurture these rights, thereby also strengthening the protection and promotion of the Union's values and respect for the rule of law and contributing to the building of a more democratic Union, democratic dialogue, transparency and good governance.

Objective 2 - Equality, Rights and Gender Equality strand

Operational objectives: 

• To promote equality and to prevent and combat inequalities and discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds referred to in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
• support, promote and implement comprehensive policies aimed at:

(a) promote the full exercise of rights by women; gender equality, including work-life balance; empowerment of women; gender mainstreaming;

(b) promote non-discrimination and gender mainstreaming;

(c) combat racism, xenophobia and all forms of intolerance, including homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, interphobia and intolerance based on gender identity, both online and offline

(d) protect and promote the rights of children and adolescents;

(e) protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities;

(f) protect and promote Union citizenship rights and the right to protection of personal data.

Objective 3 - Citizens' engagement and participation strand

Operational objectives:  

• Support projects commemorating defining moments in modern European history, including the rise to power of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, including their causes and consequences, and projects aiming at raising European citizens' awareness of their shared history, culture, heritage and values, thus enhancing their understanding of the Union, its origins, objectives, diversity, achievements and the importance of mutual understanding and tolerance;
• promote the participation of citizens and representative associations in the democratic and civic life of the Union and their contribution to it, enabling them to make known and publicly exchange their views in all areas of Union action
• promote exchanges between citizens from different countries, especially through town twinning and networks of towns, to enable them to grasp in a concrete way the richness and diversity of the Union's common heritage and to make them aware that these elements constitute a solid foundation for a common future.

Objective 4 - Daphne strand

Operational objectives: 

• Prevent and combat, at all levels, all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls and all forms of domestic violence, also by promoting the standards laid down in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention);
• Prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and other at-risk groups, e.g. LGBTIQ persons and persons with disabilities
• Support and protect all direct and indirect victims of the forms of violence mentioned in the previous points, such as victims of domestic violence perpetrated within the family or within intimate relationships, including children orphaned by domestic crimes, and to support and ensure the same level of protection throughout the Union for victims of gender-based violence.

Beneficiaries 

The following entities are eligible: 

• legal entities established:
  (i) in a Member State or an overseas country or territory associated with it;

         (ii) in a third country associated to the Programme, except in relation to Objective 1 - Union values section;          

• legal entities established under Union law or international organisations.

The European Network of National Equality Bodies (Equinet) may be awarded an operating grant without a call for proposals to cover expenditure associated with the Equinet permanent work programme.

Forms of Financing

The programme may provide funding in any form provided for by the Financial Regulation.

Contributions to a mutual insurance mechanism may cover the risk associated with the recovery of funds owed by recipients and shall be considered a sufficient guarantee within the meaning of the Financial Regulation. 

An action having received a contribution under the Programme may also be financed by another Union programme, including the Funds under shared management, provided that the contributions do not relate to the same costs. The rules of the Union programme concerned shall apply to the corresponding contribution made to the action. Cumulative funding shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action. Support from different Union programmes may be calculated proportionally in accordance with the documents specifying the conditions for support.

Actions awarded a label of excellence under the programme may receive support from the European Regional Development Fund or the European Social Fund Plus of the Common Provisions Regulation for the period 2021-2027 if they fulfil all of the following cumulative conditions: 

• they have been assessed in the framework of a call for proposals under the programme;
• they comply with the minimum quality requirements set out in the call for proposals; 
• they cannot be funded under the call for proposals due to budgetary constraints.

Budget

The budget for the implementation of the programme for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 is set at EUR 641 705 000 in current prices. Additional resources amounting to EUR 800 000 000 in 2018 prices may be allocated to the programme under the agreement reached in December 2020 on the EU budget 2021-2027 and Next Generation EU.

LINK

https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/departments-and-executive-agencies/justice-and-consumers/justice-and-consumers-funding-tenders/funding-programmes/citizens-equality-rights-and-values-programme_en