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European Network of Factcheckers

Reference

48165818TOPICSen

Important Dates

September 2nd, 2025

Overview

The grant opportunity titled "European Network of Factcheckers" aims to enhance the European capacity to combat disinformation by funding collaborative initiatives focused on fact-checking and media literacy. It is part of the Digital Europe Programme and seeks to support a network of hubs that will improve detection, analysis, and public awareness of disinformation.

Eligible applicants include fact-checking organizations, academic institutions, research entities, NGOs, and civil society organizations. Consortiums that involve collaboration among multiple EU member states are required, and applications are encouraged from entities operating in EU member states, EEA countries, candidate and accession countries.

The funding mechanism is through grants, specifically under the DIGITAL Grants for Financial Support, with an envelope of €5 million available for this initiative. Proposals will be considered for funding amounts between €1 million and €5 million. The application type is an open call, requiring a single-stage submission process without pre-screening.

The targeted sectors include media, cybersecurity, and digital literacy, specifically focusing on combating disinformation. The projects should aim to deliver fact-checking analysis, deploy media literacy programs, and capture best practices in disinformation countering. The geographic scope prioritizes EU regions, especially areas vulnerable to disinformation.

Proposed projects are expected to be in the validation or demonstration stage, involving activities like collaboration, capacity building, and technical support. There is no co-funding requirement, as the grant will cover 100% of eligible costs. The anticipated timeline and criteria for evaluation will be outlined in the call documentation.

Overall, this grant seeks to bolster the European fact-checking ecosystem, enabling stakeholders to work together to counter disinformation and promote media literacy across diverse regions.

Detail

This EU funding opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), call DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08, aims to accelerate the best use of technologies by increasing fact-checking capacity and coverage across the EU. The call includes two topics: DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS and DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs.

The DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS topic, a DIGITAL Grants for Financial Support (DIGITAL-GFS) action, has a budget of 5,000,000 EUR and anticipates awarding 1 grant.

The DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs topic, a DIGITAL Simple Grants (DIGITAL-SIMPLE) action, has a budget of 42,000,000 EUR and anticipates awarding 31 grants.

Both topics follow a single-stage submission process, with the opening date on 15 April 2025 and the deadline on 02 September 2025 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome is to support activities that increase fact-checking capacity and coverage across the EU, including targeted support for fact-checkers through collaboration, peer-to-peer support, and relevant technical infrastructure and tools.

The objective is to maintain and further develop a platform supporting the operations of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), deepen the language coverage and operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe, support operational cooperation between fact-checkers, researchers, and media literacy practitioners through EDMO, and contribute to the fight against disinformation. This includes gaining further insight on disinformation, monitoring the disinformation space, debunking disinformation through the network of fact-checkers, and increasing the resilience of media professionals and citizens to disinformation.

The scope of the work strand is to strengthen the capacity of the European fact-checking community and make fact-checking available in all languages. This will build on and further expand activities initially carried out by EDMO and other European fact-checking initiatives like the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). Activities may also cover candidate and accession countries, associated to the Programme, in view of the specific vulnerabilities to disinformation and Russian interference in this region.

Funded activities, including through financial support to third parties, may include:

Collaboration activities and capacity building for joint investigations.

Peer-to-peer support from established fact-checking organizations to newly created ones.

Technical infrastructure/tools supporting the activities of fact-checkers.

Targeted trainings for fact-checkers and media professionals, with particular emphasis on supporting the emergence of fact-checking in regions and languages that are currently not yet well covered.

To enshrine the independence of fact-checkers, activities funded will build on the independence and transparency standards developed by the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN).

This dedicated work strand aims to further develop and support fact-checkers' capacity to play a vital role in the fight against disinformation. The funded activities shall also empower European Fact-Checkers to work hand-in-hand with the European Democracy Shield, ensuring full complementarity.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, which are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

Eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document.

Other eligible conditions are described in section 6 of the call document.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in section 7 of the call document.

Evaluation and award processes, submission, and evaluation are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.

Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document.

The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document.

The legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document and annexes include:

CALL DOCUMENT

Application form templates: Standard application form (DEP) available in the Submission System

Model Grant Agreements (MGA): DEP MGA

Additional documents:

DEP Work Programmes

DEP Regulation 2021/964

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

There are 49 partner search announcements available. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile.

To access the Electronic Submission Service, applicants should click on the submission button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to their proposal.

For help related to this call, applicants can contact via the provided FORM. Additional resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals, the IT Helpdesk, and the Online Manual.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to bolster the European fact-checking ecosystem by providing financial support, infrastructure, and training to fact-checkers across the EU, including candidate and accession countries. It seeks to enhance their ability to combat disinformation, promote media literacy, and work collaboratively within the framework of EDMO and the European Democracy Shield. The call is structured around two main topics, one focusing on financial support for fact-checkers and the other on broader network activities, each with its own budget and expected number of grants. Applicants should carefully review the call documents and conditions to ensure their proposals align with the objectives and requirements of the program.

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Breakdown

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, based on the context, eligible applicants could include fact-checking organizations, research institutions, media literacy practitioners, and other entities involved in combating disinformation. The mention of "peer-to-peer support from established fact-checking organisations to newly created ones" suggests that both established and emerging organizations are eligible.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically "DIGITAL Grants for Financial Support (DIGITAL-GFS)" and "DIGITAL Simple Grants (DIGITAL-SIMPLE)". The call also mentions "DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG]".

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required. However, the emphasis on collaboration activities and peer-to-peer support suggests that consortia may be favored, although single applicants are not necessarily excluded.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility is the EU. However, the scope also includes candidate and accession countries associated with the Programme, particularly in view of their specific vulnerabilities to disinformation and Russian interference.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: ICT, media, security/cybersecurity, innovation, and potentially consulting. The main focus is on combating disinformation and supporting fact-checking initiatives.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions the EU and candidate and accession countries associated to the Programme. No specific countries are named, but the focus is on the European region.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is likely to be at the development, validation, or demonstration stage. The call aims to maintain and further develop existing platforms and initiatives, as well as expand fact-checking capacity, suggesting that projects should be beyond the initial idea stage.

Funding Amount: There are two specific funding amounts mentioned:
DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS: EUR 5,000,000
DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs: EUR 42,000,000

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money through grants. The funding will support activities such as collaboration, capacity building, technical infrastructure, tools, and targeted training.

Application Stages: The application process consists of a single stage.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants for DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS is 1, while for DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs it is 31. This information, combined with the partner search announcements (49 searches), suggests that the success rate is likely to be below 10%, especially for the FACTCHECKERS topic.

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

Summary:

This EU funding opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), aims to bolster the European fact-checking community and combat disinformation. The call, titled "Accelerating the Best Use of Technologies (DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08)", offers grants to support activities that increase fact-checking capacity and coverage across the EU, with a particular focus on candidate and accession countries. The initiative seeks to maintain and develop the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) platform, deepen language coverage, and enhance the operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe.

The call has two main topics: DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-FACTCHECKERS, with a budget of EUR 5,000,000 and an indicative number of 1 grant, and DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs, with a budget of EUR 42,000,000 and an indicative number of 31 grants. The submission deadline is September 2, 2025.

Eligible activities include collaboration, capacity building for joint investigations, peer-to-peer support, technical infrastructure and tools, and targeted training for fact-checkers and media professionals. The program emphasizes the independence and transparency standards developed by the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN).

The application process is a single-stage submission, and applicants can access the Electronic Submission Service through the Funding & Tenders Portal. The call targets fact-checking organizations, research institutions, media literacy practitioners, and other entities involved in combating disinformation, encouraging them to work hand-in-hand with the European Democracy Shield.

Short Summary

Impact
This grant aims to strengthen the European fact-checking network against disinformation by supporting collaborative hubs to enhance detection, analysis, and public awareness through media literacy and fact-checking initiatives.
Applicant
Skills in fact-checking, media literacy, collaboration, and technical infrastructure development are needed to execute the project.
Developments
Funding will support activities that increase fact-checking capacity and coverage across the EU, particularly in regions vulnerable to disinformation.
Applicant Type
Fact-checking organizations, academic/research institutions, NGOs, and civil society organizations involved in media literacy or disinformation analysis.
Consortium Requirement
A consortium is required, involving organizations from multiple EU Member States.
Funding Amount
€1M–€5M, with a total funding envelope of €5 million for the call.
Countries
EU Member States, EEA countries, EU candidate/accession countries, and associated neighboring countries are relevant due to their vulnerabilities to disinformation.
Industry
The funding targets the media, cybersecurity, and digital literacy sectors, focusing on combating disinformation.