A Letter to European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency

Published: Feb 25, 2021 Reading time: 6 minutes
A Letter to European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency
© Foto: Friends of Europe

In a letter addressed to Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, People in Need, along with seven other European organizations, have provided a number of recommendations for an effective implementation of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme.

With 1,5 billion EUR allocated for the years 2021-2027, CERV is an important tool for fostering European values projects. To maximise its impact and accessissiblity, we offered 14 steps that should be undertaken by the Commission.

The letter was co-signed by 150 plus organizations across the European Union and beyond. 

Dear Vice-President Věra Jourová,

Civil society organisations (CSOs) across the EU have long advocated for greater and more

accessible European financial support for projects fostering European values at the local,

national and transnational levels. This is why, as members of the civil society, we welcome

the unprecedented decision of the EU Council and the European Parliament to allocate

over 1.5 billion EUR for the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme under

the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework.

We highly appreciate that the draft regulation on CERV programme clearly stresses the

importance of funds’ accessibility to civil society actors, including grassroots CSOs, who

address challenges to European values locally. We are also glad that emphasis has been

put on flexible support to CSOs which foster democracy, the rule of law and fundamental

rights, as reflected by the creation of the new ‘Union values’ strand (Article 2 of the draft

regulation).

We warmly welcome the commitment to implement the Programme in a “user-friendly

way”, and we can only agree with the statement that “particular attention should be paid

to accessibility [of the CERV programme] to civil society organisations at transnational,

national, regional and local level, including local grass root civil society organisations as

well as to the capacity of beneficiaries [which] should include consideration of the use of

financial support to third parties, where appropriate” (Recital 18).

Expectations are high and we understand that full and effective implementation of this

ambitious Programme will be challenging. Thus, we express regret over the fact that the

Commission has not organised a consultation with CSOs on the implementation of the

Programme, particularly in the context of the preparations of the 2021 Annual Work

Programme. We do encourage the Commission to do so for the rest of the programming

period.

Indeed, drawing on our vast experience in promoting and protecting European values as

civil society actors, and our experience related to various grant programs for civil society

financed by private, public and intergovernmental entities, we wish to make a number of

recommendations in the interest of maximising the CERV Programme’s accessibility and

effectiveness. We encourage you to take them into consideration:

  • 1. A significant part of CERV funds should be distributed via national or regional

intermediaries (grant programme operators) or consortia of several

intermediaries. Intermediaries should be selected from among individual civil

society organisations, networks or consortia in an open, transparent and

competitive procedure based on their earlier experience, independence and

engagement with civil society, as well as with grant programmes.

  • 2. The Programme should strengthen national networks and associations of

grassroots CSOs to boost resilience of the civil society sector.

  • 3. Financing projects aimed at promoting and safeguarding EU values, including

through awareness raising and educational activities, is more important than

ever. However, for CSOs to have the capacity and resources to engage in such

activities, it is crucial for the Programme to also provide core funding to support

CSOs own existence and operations, in particular for organisations which operate

on local or national level. It should also help build capacity of CSOs, as well as

support their institutional development and resilience.

  • 4. National and cross-border partnerships of applicants are welcome but should not

be preferred to applications submitted by individual CSOs. Applicant

organisations should be allowed to partner with informal groups.

  • 5. Grant application and reporting procedures should be user-friendly and

accessible to all kinds of eligible civil society actors, including those with limited

administrative capacity.

  • 6. Grants should be divided into small, medium and large ones, to enhance access

to funding for organizations from different regions with various levels of capacity

and experience. Application procedures for small grants should be simplified.

  • 7. The timeframe for the implementation of proposals under action or operating

grants should be flexible – for some of the programmatic objectives, the usual

timeframe of 2-3 years may not be suitable to build capacity and ensure

sustainability of the sector.

  • 8. Application processes should be divided into two stages: (1) submission of a

short project concept note and indicative budget; (2) submission of the full

project proposal. Between the two stages, CSOs with less capacity should receive

assistance (in the form of workshops or consultation provided e.g. by external

contractors) in order to enable them to develop their ideas into fully-fledged

projects. Submission of formal documents (e.g. issued by tax authorities) should

not be required until the signature of contract.

  • 9. The co-funding requirement should be applied depending on the size of projects.

Smaller and medium-sized projects implemented by grassroots CSOs should be

exempted from the co-funding requirement or it should be reduced to maximum

5%. In-kind and voluntary work should be recognised as an alternative for own

financial contribution. Greater use of lump sums should be applied, and more

flexibility as regards the use of the budget should be allowed. Beneficiaries

should be able to receive funds in their local currency, which would reduce risks

related to fluctuation of exchange rates.

  • 10. The disbursement system of the grants should not undermine cash flow of grant

beneficiaries. Beneficiaries should not be expected to pre-finance the

implementation of projects. A new instalment should be disbursed when 70% of

the previous instalment has been used up.

  • 11. All information and procedures related to the Programme, including application

forms, instructions for applicants and Q&As should be available in all official EU

languages. The Commission should organise webinars in local languages for

potential applicants to provide orientation on the Programme.

  • 12. A Programme Council should be set up as the highest decision-making authority

of the Programme. Civil society organisations, appointed in consultation with

European networks of CSOs or with national associations of CSOs, should take

part in the Council and participate in the oversight of the implementation of the

Programme.

  • 13. Independent experts, with expertise and proven knowledge of the sector,

appointed in consultation with European networks of CSOs or with national

associations of CSOs, should take part in the assessment of grant applications

(steps would have to be taken to avoid conflicts of interest).

  • 14. The Commission should organize information campaigns on the CERV

Programme in EU member states in partnership with local CSOs and Programme

operators (rather than PR companies).

We hope these suggestions can prove useful in developing work programmes and calls for proposals so that the Programme can give effective support to CSOs against the background of the current challenges they face across the EU. We also highly recommend the Good Grantmaking Guide, that summarises the experience of Central European grantmaking foundations under the umbrella of the Environmental Partnership Association.

We remain ready and open to consult with you through any means about the possible design and modalities of the Programme setup.

Yours sincerely,

Raffaella Bolini & Jean Marc Roirant, Co-Presidents, European Civic Forum – EU Network

Balázs Dénes, Executive Director, Civil Liberties Union for Europe – EU Network

Karolina Dreszer-Smalec, President, National Federation of Polish NGOs – Poland

Ewa Kulik-Bielińska, Director, Stefan Batory Foundation – Poland

Veronika Móra, Director, Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation – Hungary

Šimon Pánek, CEO, People in Need – Czech Republic

Márta Pardavi, Co-Chair, Hungarian Helsinki Committee – Hungary

Ionuț Sibian, Managing Director, Civil Society Development (CSDF) – Romania

Autor: People in Need

Related articles