European Cross-border Grants

• Eligibility Criteria: Cross-border teams of at least two professional journalists and/or independent news outlets from at least two different countries in Europe are eligible to apply. At least 80% of the requested budget must go to journalists/media from EU countries.
• Type of Funding: Grant
• Target Region: Europe
• Application Language: English

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. This award-winning European Cross-border Grant programme (running since 2009) supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets who have strong ideas for cross-border investigations and research on European topics.

The proposed projects must have substantive news value and depth, while at the same time being original and innovative. Projects can include cross-border research, networking between colleagues, and established and innovative investigative methods. The stories must be relevant to European audiences. Journalismfund Europe supports costs related to journalistic research for all types of media formats, which could not be covered without the grant support. This can include travel, translation, access to pay-databases and/or time to pursue the research. We do not support fixed costs such as office costs and other investments such as cameras or computers or production costs.

Alongside the applications for funding, teams can also apply to receive support from a project advisor and work with an expert to enrich their investigation.

How to apply

1. Before you start, please consult the grant details, where you can find the rules, eligibility and assessment criteria, timing etc.
2. Use your email address for one-time registration and access our application form (under construction) online. Freely navigate through the online form to see which information you need to provide in your application. This includes:

• Team members’ details, company details, etc
• Information about the intended investigation
• Information about the intended publication channels, including letters of intent from news outlets,
• And a detailed budget, according to our budget template.

You will also be asked to upload additional administrative documents. One team member can start a draft application. S/he can then invite multiple people to collaborate on the online draft. The online application-in-progress can be saved and further edited at any time.

Deadline

Next deadline: 19 March 2026. 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.

For more information, please visit this page.