The fate of Europe’s civil society and independent media for the next decade rests on choices made over the next 18 months.
An EU budget of almost EUR two trillion for seven years starting from early 2028 – known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – is currently being wrestled over in various Committee hearings in Brussels.
Spending on defence and security is set to dramatically increase, reflecting Europe’s strategic priorities in these precarious times. Yet viewing Europe’s security as simply depending on buying more military hardware is a mistake. Strong democracies are founded on open societies and the rule of law – and civil society and independent media play a crucial role in fostering them.
Civil society in Europe is already straining under the weight of funding cuts, and many organisations say their work on democracy and fundamental rights is threatened as a result.
The previous MFF allocated EUR 1.55 billion in funding to the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme: providing a lifeline to civil society. Now, with threats to democracy increasing and other funding sources being cut, greater ambition is needed.
In this month’s feature article, three experts from the fields of civil society, tech and media consider what’s at stake in the MFF negotiations, and outline the compelling case civil society and independent media can make for greater funding, with the support of philanthropy. You can read it here.
Sharing knowledge
Connecting people is at the core of our mission.
In October we were pleased therefore to bring together our Media grantee partners in Athens, and our Tech & Democracy partners in Ljubljana, for meetings where knowledge, experience and strategies were shared in a mutually supportive atmosphere. Our mission is not just to be a funder, but a catalyst for creating greater solidarity and stronger networks.
Finally, it’s one year since we re-launched this newsletter. We believe it’s gone from strength to strength, but we want it to keep getting better. Help us by taking part in our newsletter survey, and letting us now what improvements you would like to see. The survey will be open until November 15th.
In solidarity,
ELISA PETER
Director, Civitates
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High stakes negotiation: the next EU budget. The EU’s long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), will be determined over the next 18 months. Behind the complex negotiations and politics, choices will be made which will shape the future of independent media, civil society and tech in the EU for the next decade.
We asked three experts to explain what’s at stake, and to outline the compelling case for greater funding for civil society and independent media. Read the full article here.
Le Fonds pour une Presse Libre (FPL) has joined with international NGO Media Defence to establish a legal aid fund, Ripostes, which is the first of its kind dedicated to supporting independent press in France. They reached their initial goal of raising EUR 100,000 in five days. See here.
Hungary’s Civil Kollégium Alapítvány (CKA), which leads the Collection for Active Communities (ACT), has been running Clean Elections Workshops across Hungary to address issues such as risk of election manipulation, in readiness for the country’s crucial 2026 parliamentary election.
The Catalonia-based feminist collective, Fembloc, has launched a participatory project to identify the digital needs and experiences of children and adolescents. The insights they gather will inform a curricular design and guidelines aimed at transforming and making digital spaces safer and more inclusive for the young.
In October, ARTICLE 19 Europe, which defends freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide, co-organised the 2025 MFRR Summit, which brought together journalists, policymakers, and civil society to address the urgent challenges facing press freedom in Europe.
In the same month ARTICLE 19, and particularly its EU Advocacy lead Mark Dempsey, and the Open Markets Institute convened a high-level two-day conference of experts and others to discuss the threats to human rights and democracy posed by today’s dominant online communications platforms, the rise of AI, and foreign states’ interference.
FACTA, an independent Italian non-profit media outlet and new Civitates’ grantee, contributed to the cross-border investigation Green to Grey, revealing the scale of nature and cropland loss across the continent.
The Bulgarian RavniBG civil coalition – created on the initiative of the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) – adopted a new strategic plan and welcomed 18 new members at the annual RavniBG meeting in October in Sofia. The event brought together representatives from across the country, united by a shared vision for a more just and inclusive society.
Portuguese digital magazine Divergente’s application for the Journalismfund Europe’s Pluralist Media for Democracy fund has been accepted. In their application, Divergente highlighted the deep challenges facing media pluralism in Portugal, with just over half the country classified as news deserts.
Context.ro, the Romanian independent investigative journalism platform, spent three months exposing and chronicling the disinformation campaigns and foreign interference blighting Moldova’s recent parliamentary elections: from bot farms controlled from Belarus to
Fellow Romanian Media grantee, PressOne, has also published significant public interest stories recently: revealing new testimonies from within the extremist right party AUR exposing troubling practices behind the party’s public image, and reporting that a former Romanian Army elite fighter, previously featured in official recruitment campaigns for the Special Operations Forces, is now mentioned in the case file concerning an attempted coup d’état involving Călin Georgescu, Horațiu Potra, and others.
Media grantees meet
22 Civitates’ Media grantees exchanged ideas, practical tools on fundraising, audience engagement, leadership and organisational culture in Athens at the end of September – meeting as a cohort for the first time. They met during the iMEdD International Journalism Forum, a gathering where journalists, media professionals, and academics from around the world tackle journalism’s most urgent issues.
Tech & Democracy grantees gather
Civitates brought together its 20 grantee partners from the Tech & Democracy Sub-Fund on the margins of the EU Disinfo Lab conference, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in mid-October. The meeting was the opportunity for the grantees to strategize together and discuss with some national Digital Service Coordinators.Their conclusion: another online world is possible if available concrete technical solutions are given political backing, and the EU’s digital rulebook is properly implemented at national level.
Democratic Resilience
Our director Elisa Peter recently attended the Forum 2000 annual conference in Prague and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) summit in Spain. The overarching theme of both events was democratic resilience, with government officials, CSOs, think tanks, academia and media partners reflecting on the root causes of democratic decline.
Fund honours of Access Info founder
The OGP has launched a new fund for civil society, named the Helen Darbishire Fund in honour of the former Access Info founder (and former OGP steering committee member). It is supporting several organisations in Europe, including a handful of Civitates’ grantee partners.
Future of Europe grant making
Civitates has launched a time-bound call to support organisations advocating for a solid AgoraEU package as part of the on-going negotiations on the EU’s next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). Five organisations so far will be invited to submit proposals. We are hoping to be able to have a second round of grants in mid-2026.
06 – 08/ 11 – Tech Clinic at the XXI Forum Against Gender-Based Violence
Location: The Espai Francesca Bonnemaison, Barcelona
Fembloc’s Tech Clinic is a free, in-person space where participants can review their digital security with the support of a specialist technologist and a psychologist. It is open to women and LGTBIQ+ people currently facing digital gender-based violence or who want to review their digital security.
08/11/25 – 02/26 – Divergente Film Series
Location: Marquis of Alegrete Palace , Campo das Amoreiras, 94, Charneca do Lumiar, Lisbon
Until February 2026, Divergente will host monthly screenings at the Quinta Alegre cultural space in Lisbon. Each session is an opportunity to spark conversation and debate, bringing civil society closer to journalism. The next session will take place on 8 November with the documentary Zé wants to know why.
Calls:
- The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) has launched an open call for two six-month fellowships in Data Journalism in Trieste, Italy, starting December 2025. Each fellowship provides a monthly gross amount of €1,920 and supports investigative projects combining data-driven reporting with scientific methods. Deadline: 17 November, 2025, 1:00 p.m. (CET). More details here.
- The Democracy Masterclass 2026 is a hands-on, high-impact programme for movement leaders, campaigners and political changemakers already on the frontlines of defending democracy. 30 candidates will be chosen through a competitive process. Deadline closes soon: 1 November, 2025. Application form is here. Any questions please email: contact@dhub.org.
Jobs:
- The Limelight Foundation are looking for a values-driven Programme Officer to bring lived experience of working in journalism or tech accountability to their team. The selected candidate will join a growing and diverse team, as the foundation aims to scale up its support of European journalism. Deadline for applications is November 23rd. More details on the role and how to apply here.
We Recommend:
- Le Fonds pour une Presse Libre (FPL): 2024 Impact Report Every two years Le Fonds pour une Presse Libre (FPL) takes stock of their actions and impact. Their 2024 report details the great stories they have supported and provides detailed insight into the French media landscape in which they operate.
- PressOne recently exposed corruption in the Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia – shedding on the city hall’s entanglement with a prominent businessman, who has been constructing residential buildings without proper permits.
Suggested Reading:
- Gaza, war on the biosphere In a new investigation published by IrpiMedia in collaboration with FACTA – both Civitates grantees – science journalist and FACTA’s editor-in-chief Elisabetta Tola examines the environmental devastation caused by the genocide in Gaza.
- André Wilkens, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) director’s recent op-ed in Le Grand Continent compared our addiction to Silicon Valley’s big tech platforms to China’s historic dependency on opium. “Our screens have become plantations: the raw material is our behaviour… the structure that underlies it is deliberate, vast, and largely invisible.” Read the full piece here.
- Meanwhile the Council on European Public Space – which is supported by the ECF – welcomed the European Commission’s statement on the ‘Apply AI’ and ‘AI in Science’ strategies. See press release here.
- Investing in Independence: Financing Media Freedom in Central & Eastern Europe Commissioned by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA), this new FT Strategies report explores how public, private and philanthropic capital can work together to finance independent media and why doing so is vital for both democracy and markets.
