Source: European Parliament
1. Information on EU budget funding awarded to specific recipients, such as European media outlets, is publicly available through the centralised Financial Transparency System (FTS) web page[1]. This tool provides detailed information at individual project level, allowing to conduct searches across multiple dimensions.
2. Grants for news media are provided on the basis of open calls. The applying entities are free to propose the activities to be implemented based on the objectives and expected deliverables set out in the calls. Such calls include provisions to make sure that beneficiaries apply journalistic and ethical standards, while operating with full editorial independence.
3. Free and fair elections are at the core of democracy. The conduct and the organisations of elections are the competence and responsibility of the Member States, in accordance with their national constitutional rules and legislation, subject to EU law and their international obligations. All EU grants must be implemented by beneficiaries in full respect of applicable EU and national law. Hence, applicants have to comply with electoral rules in the given Member State.
Direct EU funding falls outside the scope of the EU State aid rules. Moreover, direct EU funding is governed by rigorous rules designed to prevent distortions of competition and there is no evidence of a breach of the EU’s competition rules.
- [1] https://ec.europa.eu/budget/financial-transparency-system/index.html. The annual publications are based on Article 38 of the Financial Regulation (OJ L 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, p. 1-239), and in accordance with the third paragraph of the article, information on recipients is not disclosed in specific cases outlined therein.