European Cross-border Grants
Opening DateOngoing
Deadline Date19/03/2026
Submission LanguageEnglish
Maximum Value280.000,00 €
Percentage of FinancingNA
StatusClosed
StatusClosed
Who
- Cross-border investigative teams of at least two journalists and/or media outlets can submit a proposal for journalistic investigations in Europe. These are projects that have substantive news value and depth, while at the same time being original and innovative. The stories must be relevant to European audiences.
- This grant programme is open to journalists/media outlets domiciled in at least two different countries in Europe. When relevant for the story, team members from outside Europe can be accepted, too. At least 80% of your requested budget should go to journalists/media domiciled in EU member countries.
- The applicants must be professional freelance journalists and/or media outlets. Personal references and/or references to earlier work are essential in that respect. Students are not eligible. Media outlets must be legal entities officially incorporated at least one year before the application deadline of the grant call.
Eligibility
- The project must be published by at least two professional news outlets in at least two different European countries. Letters of intent (LOI) for publication from at least two professional news outlets are required.
- Journalists who were previously allocated a grant by Journalismfund Europe can reapply. The jury will include the result of previous grants in their evaluation of the new application.
- Investigative journalism published by professional media in any form is eligible, no matter whether print, online, broadcast or cross-media. All journalistic end products qualify for a grant: newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television documentaries and series, photo-reportages and books, podcasts and journalistic non-fiction books.
- All relevant topics are eligible. However, if your investigation proposal concerns the environment, please turn to our Investigation Grants for Environmental Journalism.
What
This grant aims to address the shortage of independent journalism by providing grants to investigative journalism projects in Europe and encouraging cross-border collaboration with an expert approach.
A New Approach: Expert-Reviewed Journalism
They introduce a new component to our grant programme: expert-reviewed journalism. For journalists who’d like to take a more scientific and methodical approach to their investigations and thus strengthen their investigations, the European Cross-border Grants programme now offers them the possibility to work with subject-matter experts.
This new support comes in the form of Project Advisors and Experts, who will work closely with grantees throughout their project. Project Advisors will help teams to connect with relevant experts and act as a mediator between journalists and experts. Project advisors will be chosen among a pool of advisors compiled by our project partner SSE Riga. Experts will be selected by the journalistic team, with support from the Project Advisor, based on their expertise in the topic of the investigation.
Funding
The total grant budget is 1.120.000,00 € to distribute over six application rounds (280.000,00 € per call).
From 2026 to 2027, the programme will be funded by the European Union and by philanthropic organisations (TBC).
For this grant programme, there are four application rounds scheduled in 2026:
- Thursday 19 March 2026 at 1 pm CET
- Thursday 21 May 2026 at 1 pm CET
- Thursday 30 July 2026 at 1 pm CET
- Thursday 1 October 2026 at 1 pm CET
In 2027, two application deadlines are scheduled: 7 January and 11 March at 1 pm CET.
Documents
Organisation: Journalismfund Europe
Click here for more information, application and contacts.
