Advisory support and network to counter disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)

The grant opportunity titled "Advisory support and network to counter disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)" falls under the Horizon Europe framework, specifically within the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society pillar. The focus of this call, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01, is to enhance the resilience of democratic processes against hybrid threats, particularly disinformation and foreign information manipulation, recognized as significant challenges to democracy, human rights, and security.

Eligible applicants include research organizations, NGOs, universities, educational bodies, civil society organizations, public bodies, media companies, and various stakeholders involved in media, security, and governance. The funding type is categorized as a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, with a total budget of €3.5 million allocated for the topic. Each project can receive between €3 million and €3.5 million, and only one grant is expected to be awarded.

The application process is a single-stage open call, with proposals due by September 16, 2025. Projects must support activities that unify multiple categories of stakeholders, promoting collaboration with researchers and practitioners across previous EU-funded initiatives. The call targets EU member states and associated countries, with a strong emphasis on supporting diverse stakeholders including public authorities and private entities involved in combating disinformation.

The projects funded through this call are expected to achieve notable outcomes, such as improving the understanding of effective countermeasures against disinformation, providing tailored advisory support, and equipping decision-makers with science-based tools for policy development. Successful proposals should build on previous EU research, developing actionable strategies, methodologies, and tools that address current challenges, especially leveraging advancements in technologies like AI and Big Data.

Additionally, the call encourages addressing identity-based disinformation, particularly concerning marginalized groups like the LGBTIQ community, and emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations related to emerging technologies. Proposals are required to be limited to 33 pages and include a detailed budget table.

Participating entities may include organizations from non-associated third countries under specific conditions. The funding does not require co-financing, and the anticipated success rates for receiving funding in similar competitive calls is typically between 10% to 39%.

In summary, this call aims to foster a pan-European response to disinformation and foreign interference, leveraging existing research to deliver practical benefits to society and strengthen democratic values. The focus is on facilitating cross-sector collaboration, enhancing capacity building, and ensuring greater societal resilience against disinformation threats.

The EU Funding Opportunity is a Horizon Europe call under the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society pillar, specifically targeting the challenge of disinformation and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). The call, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01, is titled "Advisory support and network to counter disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)". It aims to leverage previous EU-funded research to enhance society's ability to counter hybrid threats, particularly those related to disinformation and FIMI, which are seen as growing dangers to democracy, human rights, social cohesion, and European security.

The projects funded under this call are expected to achieve several outcomes. Firstly, they should increase the understanding of EU institutions, national decision-makers, practitioners, civil society organizations, and other societal actors regarding the validity of theoretical models and the implementation of recommendations, toolkits, and methodologies to prevent and counter FIMI and related disinformation. Secondly, they should provide practitioners and civil society organizations with access to a network and tailored advisory support for designing and implementing measures against FIMI and disinformation. Thirdly, the projects should equip EU institutions and national decision-makers with science-based tools and evidence-based policy recommendations to proactively address FIMI.

In addition to these overarching outcomes, projects should also contribute to at least one of the following: enhancing frameworks and approaches like D-RAIL or the DISARM framework to facilitate collaboration against disinformation and FIMI; improving knowledge and awareness among practitioners and civil society organizations about the challenges posed by disinformation and FIMI; providing evidence of the impact of new technologies like AI and Big Data on disinformation and FIMI, along with new tools and methods to address these phenomena; and increasing the capacity of citizens and civil society to identify and counter disinformation.

The scope of the call emphasizes building upon existing EU-funded research from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and other relevant programs. Proposals should make actionable recommendations, knowledge, toolkits, and scientific methods accessible to a wider audience, including professionals in media, education, security, defense, transport, foreign relations, and ICT. Collaboration with research teams from relevant Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects is encouraged. Projects should also develop frameworks used by FIMI and disinformation practitioners, consider the work of EDMO Hubs, and integrate results into advisory support and dissemination actions.

The call emphasizes the importance of capacity-building activities and advisory support targeted at a wide range of stakeholders, including public bodies, NGOs, fact-checkers, civil society organizations, policymakers, educational bodies, and law practitioners. The involvement of these stakeholders is crucial for testing and implementing research results. The call also acknowledges the increasing capacity of actors promoting disinformation due to new technologies like generative AI and Big Data and encourages proposals to address the ethical and legal challenges implied.

Proposals should identify gaps in research, particularly regarding access to data, and make concrete recommendations on how to fill these gaps. Addressing identity-based disinformation and FIMI targeting LGBTIQ people is also encouraged. Where applicable, projects should leverage data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud and ensure that data produced is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).

The call specifies that the proposal page limit for a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) using lump sum funding is 33 pages, and a detailed budget table must be submitted. Legal entities from non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate under certain conditions. The granting authority can fund a maximum of one project under this topic. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

The call provides links to various guidance documents, application forms, evaluation forms, model grant agreements, and work programmes. It also offers resources for partner searches and support services such as the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points, Enterprise Europe Network, IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, and CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk.

The budget overview indicates that the HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01 topic has a budget of 3,500,000 EUR for the year 2025. It is a single-stage call with an opening date of 15 May 2025 and a deadline of 16 September 2025. The expected contribution per project is between 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 EUR, and the indicative number of grants is 1.

In summary, this EU funding opportunity aims to enhance society's resilience against disinformation and FIMI by translating existing research into practical tools and strategies, building capacity among various stakeholders, and addressing the challenges posed by emerging technologies. It is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) with a lump sum funding model, requiring a 33-page proposal and a detailed budget table. The call encourages collaboration with previous EU-funded projects and the involvement of diverse stakeholders, including public bodies, NGOs, and civil society organizations. The total budget for this specific topic is 3.5 million EUR, with an expected contribution of 3 to 3.5 million EUR per project, and only one project is expected to be funded.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include public bodies, NGOs, fact-checkers, civil society organisations, policymakers, educational bodies, law practitioners, media companies, public and private broadcasters, online news platforms, and digital services object of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and other private entities, such as providers of intermediaries’ services under the Digital Services Act (DSA), and researchers. Legal entities established in non-associated third countries may exceptionally participate in this Coordination and support action as a beneficiary or affiliated entity, subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (HORIZON-CSA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to require a consortium, as it mentions the involvement of multiple categories of stakeholders and encourages collaboration with research teams from Horizon 2020 projects and cooperation with past and on-going EU-funded projects.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states, associated countries, and potentially non-EU/non-associated third countries, subject to specific provisions and restrictions.

Target Sector: The target sectors are democracy, governance, media, education, security, defence, transport, foreign relations, ICT, artificial intelligence, big data, and countering disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the opportunity is focused on the EU and associated countries. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries are also mentioned as potentially eligible.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on bringing to society the benefits from previously EU-funded research, building on existing recommendations, knowledge, toolkits, and methods. It aims to make these accessible to a wider audience and test/implement research results, exploring their readiness to be implemented and replicated.

Funding Amount: The budget for the HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01 topic is EUR 3,500,000, with contributions ranging from EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 3,500,000 per grant. The indicative number of grants is 1. Other related topics under the same call (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2025) have varying budgets and grant amounts.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the granting authority can fund a maximum of one project for the HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01 topic.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-DEMOCRACY-01, focuses on providing advisory support and establishing a network to counter disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). The EU recognizes hybrid threats, particularly disinformation and FIMI, as significant dangers to democracy, human rights, and security. The call aims to translate existing EU-funded research into practical benefits for society by making actionable recommendations, knowledge, and tools accessible to professionals across various sectors, including media, education, security, and ICT. Projects should build upon previous Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects, further develop existing frameworks like D-RAIL and DISARM, and consider the work of EDMO Hubs. The target audience includes a wide range of stakeholders, such as public bodies, NGOs, fact-checkers, and policymakers, who will be involved in testing and implementing research results. The call also emphasizes addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies like AI and Big Data in the context of disinformation. Proposals are encouraged to address identity-based disinformation, particularly targeting LGBTIQ people, and to leverage data and services available through European Research Infrastructures. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process is a single-stage open call. The geographic eligibility includes EU member states, associated countries, and potentially non-EU/non-associated third countries. The total budget for this specific topic is EUR 3,500,000, with an indicative number of one grant to be awarded.