(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.
Budget for 2021-2027
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
(million EUR)
Financial programming | 1 019.9 |
NextGenerationEU |
|
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A |
Contributions from other countries and entities | 0.1 |
Total budget 2021-2027 | 1 020.0 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Rationale and design of the programme
The citizens, equality, rights and values programme (CERV) seeks to promote the rights and values of the EU.
The EU promotes peace and the well-being of its people. It is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of people belonging to minorities. To live up to its vocation, the EU needs to remember and learn from its history and to involve people in strengthening democratic societies.
However, emerging movements challenge the idea of open, inclusive, cohesive and democratic societies and threaten the enjoyment of rights and civic participation. In particular:
- inequality and discrimination on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation still exist, and violence is still a reality in the daily lives of many women, children and other people at risk;
- the rights stemming from EU citizenship – free movement, consular protection and electoral rights – are still not fully implemented, thus hindering citizens' political and societal participation;
- economic crises, rising inequality and new or persisting challenges (e.g. migration) have led some to question the EU's fundamental rights and values, including the rule of law, access to justice, space for civil society and the independence of the judiciary.
These challenges are common to all Member States and have cross-border dimensions. While action at the national level is important, individual Member States do not have sufficient leverage to tackle these challenges on their own. Therefore, concerted efforts at the EU level are required.
CERV seeks to protect and promote rights and values as enshrined in the EU treaties and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in order to sustain open, rights-based, democratic, equal and inclusive societies based on the rule of law.
CERV's specific objectives, which correspond to strands, are to:
- contribute to protecting and promoting EU values by providing financial support to civil-society organisations active at the local, regional and transnational level (Union values strand)
- promote rights, non-discrimination and equality, including gender equality, and advance gender and non-discrimination mainstreaming; protect and promote the rights of the child, the rights of people with disabilities, EU citizenship rights and the right to the protection of personal data (equality, rights and gender equality strand);
- promote citizens' engagement and participation in the democratic life of the EU and exchanges between citizens of different Member States, and raise awareness of common European history (citizens' engagement and participation strand);
- fight violence, including gender-based violence and violence against children and other groups at risk (Daphne: preventing and combating gender-based violence and violence against children strand).
CERV supports a broad range of organisations that promote and protect EU values and rights, increase awareness of rights, values, principles culture, history, laws and policies, enhance capacity and foster cross-border cooperation and mutual knowledge, understanding and trust.
CERV supports training, capacity building, the exchange of good practices between Member States' authorities and bodies, and town twinning. It supports the development of knowledge-based EU policies and legislation through surveys, studies and analyses. It also supports capacity development for key EU-level networks (notably the annual work programme of the EU Network of Equality Bodies).
CERV is implemented under direct management by the Commission, under the lead of DG Justice and Consumers. The implementation of some initiatives is entrusted to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. The implementation of actions under the specific objective to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities will be managed by DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The European citizens’ initiative (ECI) will be managed by the Secretariat-General.
The policy challenges identified and addressed by the CERV programme, and in particular the promotion and protection of rights and values, require transnational cooperation mechanisms and networking opportunities, which can typically not be achieved by Member States acting alone. In that respect, action at EU level is needed following the subsidiarity principle and the principle of shared competences between EU and Members States in the area of freedom, security and justice (Article 4 of the TFEU). In many areas, such as equality and non-discrimination or citizenship, individuals are protected by European legislation, but are not sufficiently aware of their rights. Awareness raising actions, exchanges of best practices and training at EU level can help ensuring that persons in all Member States are reached, and that administrative structures/authorities are informed. Moreover, Member States can be supported to ensure consistent interpretation and coherent application of legislative instruments throughout the EU. In the area of rights, equality and, in particular, in combatting violence against women, there is EU-added value to work with national authorities and all stakeholders to find adequate solutions to remaining challenges at European level. EU funding is crucial to support civil society directly.
The programme will ensure consistency, complementarity and synergies with other funding programmes supporting policy areas with close links to each other, in particular with the Justice programme, Erasmus+ programme, the European Social Fund+ as well as with Creative Europe programme. Synergies will be explored and created with other European funding programmes, in the fields of employment and fight against social exclusion, youth, health, citizenship, justice, migration, security, research, innovation, external relations and sustainable development.
The programme supports the implementation of many EU strategic policy initiatives.
The expected total budget of EUR 1.5 billion includes top-ups pursuant to fines, including amounts not yet voted on.
CERV is the result of the merger of two 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework funding programmes, namely the rights, equality and citizenship programme and the Europe for citizens programme, which both had a strong societal focus and were clearly related to EU values. This goal is to bring more visibility, simplification and mutual reinforcement, while acknowledging and maintaining the specificities of the single policies.
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
- The impact assessment of the rights and values programme was carried out in 2018.
- For further information please consult: https://europa.eu/!RX78mN
Relevant regulation:
Evaluations:
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial programming(*) | 98.9 | 214.9 | 215.3 | 215.0 | 92.2 | 92.2 | 91.5 | 1 019.9 |
NextGenerationEU | ||||||||
Decommitments made available again (**) | N/A | |||||||
Contributions from other countries and entities | 0.1 | 0.0 | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | 0.0 |
Total | 99.0 | 214.9 | 215.3 | 215.0 | 92.2 | 92.2 | 91.5 | 1 020.0 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
(**) Financial programming for 2022, 2023 and 2024 includes top-ups pursuant to Article 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation.
Financial programming:
+ EUR 16.8 million (+ 3%)
compared to the legal basis (*)
(*) Top-ups pursuant to Article 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.
- This increase consists out of transfers to CERV lines in 2021 by PPPAs and EIGE (EUR 1.8 million), 2022 conciliation (EUR 5.5 million), 2023 conciliation (EUR 3 million) and top-up conciliation from DB 2021 (EUR 6.5 million).
Budget performance – implementation
Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2021-2027 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 313.8 | 1020.0 | 30.8% |
Payments | 147.0 | 14.4% |
Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)(1):
Commitments | Payments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | |
2021 | 98.9 | 97.2 | 19.3 | 34.5 |
2022 | 214.9 | 214.9 | 126.9 | 140.2 |
(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.
- In 2022, altogether, 14 calls for proposals took place, with a total budget of EUR 186.6 million. Under these calls, 1591 project applications have been received, of which 560 projects have been awarded funding.
- The projects awarded in 2022 will promote equality, including gender equality, and fight against racism, xenophobia and discrimination; will promote and protect the rights of the child; will support implementation of the data protection regulation; will implement activities on European remembrance and on citizens engagement as well as on town-twinning, and will aim at preventing and combating gender-based violence and violence against children.
- In addition, for the first time in history, a EUR 51 million call for proposals on promoting and protection EU values took place. It aimed at selecting a limited number of civil society organisations - intermediaries that will build the capacity of and regrant to a large number of smaller civil society organisations, active at local, regional or national level. 16 intermediaries have been selected under this call. Activities will be funded in 17 countries. Intermediaries plan to support on average 100 civil society organisations per project. Because of the innovative architecture of the call, its introduction was a challenge, which was mitigated by meticulous preparation, including with a help of a dedicated study.
- Another novelty in 2022 was the introduction of a new call for proposals to promote capacity building and awareness on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and activities on strategic litigation. The novelty of the call brought uncertainties on the interest from applicants and subsequent success of the call. It finally had a favourable outcome, and the call will continue in 2023 with an extended scope and with the further challenge to absorb the budget, passing from EUR 2 million in 2022 to EUR 16 million in 2023.
- 2022 showed new designations of National Contact Points in Member States, represented in 20 countries by the beginning of 2023.
- The programme continues providing support to 81 framework partners active in the area of EU values and also to the European Network of Equality Bodies, which was named as beneficiary in the legal basis of the programme. This partnership strengthens the capacity of these organisations and is of key importance to develop evidence-based and impactful policymaking. The management of the call for operating grants could have positively benefitted from a budget capping in the call itself; this is proposed to be taken into account for 2023.
- In 2022, 24 procurement contracts have been concluded for the total amount of EUR 4.5 million to support DG Justice and Consumers activities in promoting equality, rights and non-discrimination. The procurement activities, for example, have allowed to organise a holocaust remembrance conference or to support events on enhancing the cooperation and exchange of good practices at the European level in the field of anti-racism. In addition, procurement activities of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion for the total amount of EUR 1.7 million allowed to support close monitoring of the implementation/enforcement of the European Accessibility Act whose transposition deadline was 28 June 2022; and to organise the annual conference on the occasion of European Day of People with Disabilities and the Access City Award ceremony on 24-25 November 2022.
- In 2022, the Access City Award, recognising leading European cities in terms of accessibility and promoting cities that contribute to improve accessibility following a ‘design-for all’ approach, went to three winning cities: (1) Skelleftea (Sweden); (2) Córdoba (Spain); (3) Ljubljana (Slovenia).
- Finally, the programme supported with EUR 1.7 million the implementation of the ECI in line with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/788, the ECI regulation, by allowing for the maintenance and further development of the IT tools underpinning the management of the ECI (ECI register, ECI Forum, the central online collection system, the modules for administrating the initiatives by the Commission, the module dedicated to organisers and the module dedicated to managing data controller responsibilities). The programme also supported the continuation of the ‘EU Take the Initiative’ communication campaign with targeted social media and local promotion activities in the Member States, which led to a 20% increase of the traffic to the ECI website (compared to the previous year), 10 new requests for registrations and an increasing number of initiatives having reached the 1 million signatures threshold: 2 completed successfully the verification phase, one of which was officially submitted to the Commission for examination – ‘Save bees and farmers!’, while the other – ‘Stop finning’ will follow in 2023.
- The 2022 commitment appropriations were used for individual commitments for grants, procurement and prizes (462 grants were signed by DG Justice and Consumers, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency and DG Employment, Social Affairs in 2022 from the 2022 calls, amounting to EUR 146.11 million). At the end of 2022, global commitments were made to sign the remaining grants from the 2022 calls. In 2022, 298 grants from 2021 calls of CERV were signed (DG Justice and Consumers, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency).
- The 2022 payment appropriations were used to pay the pre-financing of the grants signed in 2022 from the 2022 calls (462 by DG Justice and Consumers, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency), the pre-financing for the remaining grants from the 2021 calls (298) as well as the payments for procurement activities. Only few final payments were made in 2022 (CERV-2021-CITIZENS-NCP-IBA).
- The programme’s implementation in 2022 was satisfactory and the objective is now to maintain a good level of implementation in the years to come. Under the adopted 2023 budget, there will be EUR 205.9 million available to implement activities under the CERV programme in 2023. This amount also includes the additional funds voted by the European Parliament. The 2023 calls for proposals were published in December 2022 and the submission deadlines have been set to allow the yearly budget to be respected, ensuring that all the 2023 calls can be processed on time.
- The level of commitment appropriations requested in the context of the draft budget 2024 will be in line with the Financial Programming of the CERV programme (as presented in the Draft Budget 2023 while accounting for the adoption of any new legislative proposals). The requested payment appropriations for the 2024 draft budget include pre-financing for grants to be signed in 2024 stemming from the 2024 calls and for the remaining grants to be signed in 2024 from the 2023 calls as well as final payments for grants signed in 2021 (average duration of the action grants is 2 years).
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
Implementation | Estimates | Total contribution | % of the 2021–2027 budget | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |||
Climate mainstreaming | 0.4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 0.3% |
Biodiversity mainstreaming | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Clean air |
0.0 |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
- In 2022, the CERV programme supported the horizontal Commission priority on climate by supporting 20 projects engaging citizens and communities in discussions and action related to our climate and environment under the call for proposals on citizens’ engagement and participation. For example, one of these projects, ‘Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing’, aims to improve citizen engagement concerning the EU Green Deal objectives and raise awareness on how it will impact their lives in the future. Besides, the project would amplify citizens’ voices in key policy processes for the transformation of our economies and democracy such as the European Semester, the Annual Growth Survey and the revision of the European democracy action plan in 2023.
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
Gender score | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
0 | 8.0 | 14.8 | 22.8 |
0* | 0.0 |
54.5 |
54.5 |
1 |
68.9 |
109.9 |
178.8 |
2 | 22.0 | 35.7 | 57.7 |
(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);
- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.
- The design of the CERV programme puts the promotion of equality at its heart. In 2022, the programme continued to promote gender equality through all of its strands. Each project financed through grants has been assessed in terms of its contribution to the promotion of gender equality and has been attributed a score. While we have also started to introduce a gender perspective into procurement activities, the data is not at the same level of granularity as the data collected for grants. Therefore, the estimate of the procurement activities’ gender score is based on their programming.
- Score 2:
Overall, around 18% of grants have received a score of 2 in terms of their contribution to gender equality. Thus, almost every fifth euro of financing in grants contributes strongly to gender equality. This is especially true for the Daphne strand, with its focus on preventing and combating gender-based violence. - Score 1:
The majority of funds provided via grants have received a score of 1. In total, approximately 57% of grants have been allocated this score. The large amount of funding with this score can be explained by the thematic focus of the different strands and calls for proposals. A significant contribution comes from the EU values strand, which mainly supports civil society organisations, including capacity building on gender equality mainstreaming.
Procurement activities on promoting Roma equality and combating hate crime contributed to this score, as they help discriminated groups to exercise their rights and to be protected from violence. Almost half of all procurement activities funded fall within this category. - Score 0*:
Around 21% of the funds from grants have received a score of 0*. The citizens' engagement and participation strand plays a significant role in getting this score. The focus of the strand is on promoting democracy and participation. These topics have potential for further integrating a gender perspective into the design, implementation and evaluation of the projects. Another example that explains this score is funding provided to national contact points. National contact points help raise awareness of the CERV programme and its calls for proposals in participating states. Their activities have potential to promote gender equality, as national contact points may help applicants gender mainstream their proposals. However, more time is still needed to focalise efforts. - Score 0:
Finally, about 3% of the funding from grants received a score of 0. This score is rather unusual for the programme. However, there are some activities that are very small in their scale and scope, meaning that opportunities to meaningfully integrate a gender perspective are limited. An example of small-scale projects is projects funded under the action grant for town twinning. These projects focus on cultural exchange between citizens, for example by organising a dinner or a concert. As the scope of these events is very limited, the opportunities to address gender equality in an extensive way are few. Finally, the programme financed via procurement the work of IT experts that do not have a strong link to gender equality.
Digital
Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | Total | % of the total 2021-2027 implementation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Digital contribution | 1.1 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 2% |
- The CERV programme contributes to the digital transition by supporting initiatives on (i) innovative democratic approaches and tools, notably digital ‘e-democracy’ tools; (ii) data protection as a pillar of citizens’ empowerment and the EU’s approach to the digital transition; and (iii) the ECI, by being a catalyst for the use of electronic identification means (e-ID) and enabling citizen participation through digital means.
- For example, the 'Machines for Good – Engaging teenagers through AI and Arts' project aims to contribute to unlocking the potential of artificial intelligence for civil participation purposes. It will use artificial-intelligence-based tools and artistic performances to stimulate debate and inspire visionary scenarios. During the events, the participants will not only discuss the proposed topics but also have a real-life experience of using artificial intelligence as a tool for democratic participation; they will have the opportunity to understand how it works and get familiar with it.
Budget performance – outcomes
Baseline | Progress (*) | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Civil society organisations reached by support and capacity-building activities under the EU values strand | 0 | 3% | 6 300 in 2027 | 217 compared to a target of 6 300 | On track |
Civil society organisations reached by support and capacity-building activities under the equality, rights and gender equality strand | 0 | 37% | 847 in 2027 | 316 compared to a target of 847 | On track |
Civil society organisations reached by support and capacity-building activities under the citizen's engagement and participation strand | 0 | 39% | 2 372 in 2027 | 942 compared to a target of 2 372 | On track |
Civil society organisations reached by support and capacity-building activities under the Daphne strand | 0 | 27% | 1 120 in 2027 | 311 compared to a target of 1 120 | On track |
Transnational networks and initiatives focusing on European memory and heritage as a result of programme intervention | 0 | 25% | 1 500 in 2027 | 388 compared to a target of 1 500 | On track |
(*) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- In 2022, in total 1 378 civil society organisations received support from the CERV programme. This number includes only those organisations with which direct grant agreements have been concluded under the programme. The real number of civil society organisations reached will be much higher, thanks to the regranting schemes in place. This data will start to be incorporated into the values of indicators as from 2024. The performance of the CERV programme regarding support to civil society organisation is on track.
- In 2021-2022, at least 18 167 894 people were reached by CERV projects. This data is partial due to the ongoing development of e-Grants – the real number of people reached being much higher. The data is expected to be updated once the development of e-Grants is completed.
- The programme's performance is also assessed with help of the EU Survey, which is filled in by the participants during activities carried out by CERV-funded projects. The results of the EU Survey are collected centrally by DG Justice and Consumers. The latest results, on the basis of 2 354 answers received, show that more than 70% of respondents gave 5 out of 5 as the overall assessment of the event in which they participated. The respondents indicated ‘increased awareness’ as the greatest benefit that the event brought them. More than 80% also indicated that their perception of the topic has changed and they think that they are now likely to react differently when confronted to the topic. What is also worth noting is that more than 50% of the respondents highlighted that they are not satisfied with the way democracy works in their country, even though they had been made aware of CERV topics.
- As the sharp increase in energy prices in 2022 had a tangible impact on everyone, including on the running costs of the CERV beneficiaries and of applicants, adjustments had to be made for future calls. For the ongoing grants, since the EU contribution is fixed in the grant agreement and, in principle, cannot be increased, beneficiaries experienced difficulties implementing all the activities planned. Solutions had to be found on a case-by-case basis. This problem is likely to continue impacting ongoing projects in 2023, because inflation is not reflected in the unit cost for travel, accommodation and subsistence. As the unit costs are not affected by the actual costs, beneficiaries may incur a financial loss in case of inflation. It remains to be seen, if there is a need to intervene, how this blow can be softened for the beneficiaries, on a case-by-case basis.
- Delays in implementation in the previous years, caused by COVID-19 pandemic, continued to have repercussions on a number of ongoing projects, for which the amendments had to be prepared.
- The e-Grant tools remained a challenge in 2022 for beneficiaries of the calls managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. A lower participation rate was recorded compared to the previous programme; the call for proposals for town twinning and the network of towns was the most affected. Reflection on how to best address the issue is currently ongoing. It should also be mentioned that the decision on lump sums should be revised to include the latest indexation – this is expected to take place in 2023.
MFF 2014-2020 – Rights, equality and citizenship
The Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme aimed to contribute to the further development of an EU where people’s equality and rights are promoted and protected.
Budget
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2014-2020 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 432.5 | 435.3 | 99.36% |
Payments | 366.4 | 84.16% |
- The completion line (legacy line) of the programme is used to make the final payments from past commitments from the previous multiannual financial framework. In 2022, 145 final payments for grants from the old rights, equality and citizenship programme were paid, amounting to EUR 7.5 million. As regards 2023, the payment appropriations will be used to cover the remaining final payments that are still outstanding.
Baseline | Progress (*) | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Member States that set up structural coordination mechanisms on the national Roma integration strategies | 0 | > 100% | 26 in 2020 | 27 compared to a target of 26 | On track |
(*) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- The programme provided around EUR 430 million between 2014 and 2020 in support of initiatives promoting justice and fundamental rights. These initiatives included training sessions, seminars and mutual-learning events, research and studies, and awareness-raising and media campaigns to the ultimate benefit of EU citizens. The programme succeeded in contributing to the further development of an area where equality and the rights of persons are promoted, protected and effectively implemented.
- In 2021, the ex post evaluation looked into the performance and results of the 2014-2020 rights, equality and citizenship programme. The evaluation showed that, despite the effects of the economic crisis (which led to a general reduction in the amount of national resources and funding available for social and fundamental rights issues), the programme has proved its EU added value and its crucial role in developing a European area of equality and rights. Evaluation also showed that although the benefits of projects’ implementation outweigh the costs, the administrative costs are still perceived by beneficiaries on average to be higher in comparison with other non-EU alternatives or with national programmes.
- A complex interplay of internal and external factors hindered the programme’s performance at various times. The internal factors mainly relate to difficulties in the application process, the internal capacity of project partners and the type and quality of consortia. Common external factors relate to the impact of external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge of involving public entities and stakeholders in the activities planned.
- The evaluation found that the success factors in projects under the rights, equality and citizenship programme include the quality of partnerships, bringing together organisations with complementary expertise and covering managerial and coordination skills with experience of working with target groups on the ground. Another element of success is the capacity of the projects to respond to the aims of the calls while also pursuing the longer-term strategies of the implementing organisations.
- As regards the baseline situation, as described in the 2011 impact assessment and the 2015 ex post evaluation of the three predecessor programmes (Daphne III, fundamental rights, and citizenship and progress), the evaluation evidence shows that almost all of the difficulties identified in the programme were overcome, except for the geographical imbalance, which still persisted.
MFF 2014-2020 – Europe for citizens
The programme provided an opportunity to people in the European Union to take part in the debate on Europe and its history and to play a strong role in developing the EU. It was part of the common effort to uphold rights and values by reinforcing a rule-of-law culture in the EU.
Budget implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2014-2020 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 195.3 | 195.5 | 99.89% |
Payments | 182.6 | 93.31% |
- In 2022, payment appropriations were used to cover the remaining final payments still outstanding. Important number of legacy projects (more than 300) were implemented and paid in 2022 covering different Europe for citizens programme strands.
- In 2023, payment appropriations will be used to cover the remaining final payments still outstanding (i.e. around 185 projects are still opened).
- The Europe for citizens programme was affected by the COVID-19 crisis. More than 450 amendments had been made in 2021 and 2022 in relation to the extensions of the eligibility period. This significant number of amendments signed, following requests for extending the duration of contracts due to the COVID-19 crisis, leads to the delayed budgetary execution of the corresponding payment credits.
- The other negative impact of COVID-19 crisis is projects’ cancellations, particularly affecting town twinning action. In 2022, 50 projects were cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis, which will result in under-consumption of the payment credits.
Baseline | Progress | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
To promote peace, the values of the Union and the well-being of its peoples: Participants directly involved in projects | 0 | 84%(1) | 100 000 in 2020 | Target achieved in 6 out of 7 years | On track |
To promote peace, the values of the Union and the well-being of its peoples: People indirectly reached by the programme | 0 | 84%(1) | 180 000 in 2020 | Target achieved in 6 out of 7 years | On track |
(1) Proportion of years for which the results are higher or equal to the target.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- The Europe for citizens programme played a positive overall role in encouraging civic participation and democratic engagement, while strengthening the mutual sense of belonging and supporting mutual understanding and identification with Europe, thereby helping to support the European integration process in the longer term.
- As evidenced by the midterm evaluation, Europe for citizens has successfully demonstrated its added value at the EU level, in terms of both its impact on participants and its complementary role with regard to other EU funding programmes and policy initiatives in the fields of education, culture and EU citizenship.
- Aspects that have been identified for improvement mostly relate to increasing the programme's visibility, amending the monitoring indicators and strengthening synergies with other relevant EU funding programmes and initiatives.
- Of the 1 761 applications received, 419 projects were selected, and around 1 250 000 participants are expected to have been involved in the programme’s activities. The number of participants is satisfactory and suggests that the programme has contributed to achieving its general objectives.
- The Europe for citizens programme was affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This resulted in delays in implementing a certain number of projects. However, this should not impact the overall performance of projects. Where possible, projects changed their in-person events to online or hybrid meetings while staying in line with planned themes and content that impacted the schedule less heavily. For some projects, however, this was not an option, and such projects had to be delayed until sanitary conditions would allow for physical meetings in order to deliver quality results.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
SDGs the programme contributes to | Example |
---|---|
SDG4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all |
The programme supports projects for the inclusion of all to quality education, including minority groups such as Roma youth, and organisations promoting lifelong learning opportunities at all ages. |
SDG5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls |
The programme has equality at its core and promotes equality through all its strands. Under the Citizens' engagement and participation strand, the programme supports gender-sensitive narratives in European Remembrance to help shed light on female voices. Within the Daphne strand, the programme fights gender-based violence and engages men to be advocates for gender equality. The Equality, rights and gender equality strand helps to uncover economic and social inequalities of Europeans who experience discrimination. In 2022, the programme put the meaningful political participation of women in the spotlight. Under the EU values strand, the programme supported key stakeholder to help civil society organisations build capacities in their endeavour to fight gender inequality. |
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all |
Via the Equality, rights and gender equality strand, the Programme supports projects for equal access to work, equal participation in labour market and the elimination of barriers to career progression in all sectors. |
SDG10 Reduce inequalities within and among countries |
The programme, through transnational projects sharing good practices, trainings and awareness rising activities, contributes to the reduction of inequalities and eliminating discrimination between EU citizens and among countries. |
SDG16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels |
Via the citizens' engagement and participation strand and the EU values strand, the programme promotes inclusive society and the rule of law. Funds support entities which contribute to make our common values, rights and equality and rich diversity alive and vibrant. |
SDG17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development |
The programme contributes to the goal, especially through the re-granting call, which aims to build capacity of civil society organisations and also promotes strong partnerships for the intermediaries. |