Call: Action grants to support Member States’ authorities in the identification and exchange of best practice to ensure correct and full implementation of the EU Framework Decision on combatting racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law

The general objective of the Programme shall be to contribute, in accordance with Article 4 of the Treaty on the EU (TEU), to the further development of an area where equality and the rights of persons as enshrined in the TEU, in the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), in the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU and in the international human rights conventions to which the Union has acceded, are promoted, protected and effectively implemented.

To achieve the general objective, the Programme has the following specific objectives:

• to promote the effective implementation of the principle of non -discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds provided for in Article 21 of the Charter;
• to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance;
• to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities;
• to promote equality between women and men and to advance gender mainstreaming;
• to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk, in particular groups at risk of violence in close relationships, and to protect victims of such violence;
• to promote and protect the rights of the child;
• to contribute to ensuring the highest level of protection of privacy and personal data;
• to promote and enhance the exercise of rights deriving from citizenship of the Union;
• to enable individuals in their capacity as consumers or entrepreneurs in the internal market to enforce their rights deriving from Union law, having regard to the projects funded under the Consumer Programme.

Amongst others, the specific objectives shall be pursued through:

• enhancing awareness and knowledge of Union law and policies as well as of the rights, values and principles underpinning the Union;
• supporting the effective, comprehensive and consistent implementation and application of Union law instruments and policies in the Member States and the monitoring and evaluation thereof.

The Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme aims to promote the development of a European society based on respect for fundamental rights and rights derived from citizenship of the European Union.

The focus of the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme is:

• the protection of the rights of the child;
• combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism;
• the fight against homophobia;
• active participation in the democratic life of the Union;
• data protection and privacy rights;
• training and networking between legal professions and legal practitioners.

This call will mainly fund activities on mutual learning, exchange of good practices, strengthened cooperation and coordination between national authorities as regards the recording, investigation and prosecution of hate crime and hate speech incidents under relevant national provisions on hate crimes.

Projects bearing a direct relevance for the effective implementation of national provisions transposing the EU Framework Decision on combatting certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law are of particular interest.

Priority will be given to projects focusing on:

• Concrete actions including training aiming at setting up and improving a methodology of recording incidents and data collection on hates speech and hate crime.
• enhancing investigation and prosecution, through training, exchange of best practice and networking, involving especially law enforcement and judicial authorities, including prosecutors.
• monitoring of online hate speech, especially those projects focusing on strengthening or setting up monitoring tools at national level
• coordination and cooperation between national authorities and civil society organisations.
• promoting diversity and countering discriminatory attitudes by police forces
• providing respectful treatment, recognition and support of victims of hate crime.

The applicant must be a public authority of one of the countries participating in the Programme; co-applicants must be public entities or private organisations, duly established in one of the countries participating in the Programme, or international organisations.

The application must involve at least two organisations (applicant and co-applicants).

The EU grant applied for cannot be lower than 75 000 € There is no upper limit. 
Total call budget: 1 500 000 €
Maximum possible rate of EU co-financing is 80% of the eligible costs

Applications in response to this call are only possible via the Electronic Submission System. In order to use this system all participants (applicant and partners) first need to create a user account, the so-called ECAS account. To do so, you need to access the Participant Portal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

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