Remembering democratic transitions, the (re-)building of democratic institutions, and strengthening society based on the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights.
Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values · Grant topic
Summary
Not an R&D call a Polish company can use, by Scindu's rule.
Funds participatory remembrance and education about democratic transitions through nonprofit-led consortia; companies may participate only as partners.
- Who can apply
- Companies as partners only: SME, large company, startup, NGO, public body, other.
- Amount
- €50K – €500K per projectTotal budget €28,000,000
- Deadline
- 24 Feb 2027 01:00 CETin 123 days
- Status
- Openopened 21 Oct 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Objective:
1. CERV-2026-CITIZENS-REM-TRANSITION - Remembering democratic transitions, the (re-)building of democratic institutions, and strengthening society based on the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights.
The EU is a community of values, and all its Member States committed to respect the principles of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for fundamental rights. Europe's experiences in the 20th century demonstrates the need for resilient democracies and the need for people to actively engage in and protect democratic institutions and values. Historical experience such as in the 1920s and 1930s, when some European democracies went through particularly challenging times, are stark reminders of the importance to promote democracy, also in a historical perspective. Today, democracy faces several challenges, which underlined the need to strengthen public trust in democratic processes and institutions and to recall the importance of democracy in people’s daily life.
Democratic transitions (defined as the transition from a non-democratic to a democratic system, a transition undertaken by several European countries before joining the EU) are not only political and legal processes but also societal transformations.The transition and consolidation of democracies through institutional and legal reforms have been essential. In addition, delivering justice to victims and affected communities after the fall of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes (including communist and fascist dictatorships) can aid in societal healing, bolster and reinforce resilience against present and future threats to democracies.
Projects under this topic can focus on:
• The ongoing development and nurturing of democracies in the context of past transitions from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes (including communist and fascist dictatorships) across various European countries, reveals important lessons for defending and upholding EU values such as democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights.
• They can also reflect on both shared patterns and national specificities, while underlining the lasting impact of the totalitarian or authoritarian past, and how its difficult legacy continues to be remembered, interpreted, and engaged with today.
• Examining and giving visibility to acts of resistance and organised opposition to past totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, as part of the ongoing effort to nurture and protect democracy in the face of enduring and emerging challenges.
• Transition from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes (including communist and fascist dictatorships) towards democracy.
• Promoting remembrance and education about past events in which fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, thought, conscience, religion, and electoral rights were suppressed under past totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. These examples serve to reinforce the importance of protecting democratic values today, including the right to express dissenting opinions and ensuring a political space where opposition voices can be freely and safely heard.
• Exploring the means of historical justice, be it through trials, restitution or amnesty, and possibility still today to work on restorative justice.
The elements described above to strengthen democracies, such as fighting foreign interference, including the manipulation and falsification of historical facts, strengthen citizen engagement, critical thinking, media literacy, and societal resilience, are closely related to the context of remembrance, as they help ensure that the dramatic events of the past are not repeated in contemporary Europe.
For further information about the call and its conditions, please see the Call document.
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, NGO, Public body, Other
- Purpose
- Culture and media
- R&D relevance
- 0 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- EU Member States, OCTs and eligible CERV associated countries; pending agreements must enter into force before grant signature.
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Required
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Per project
- €50K – €500K
- Topics
- Democratic transitions
- Historical remembrance
- Rule of law
- Civic education
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Applicant restriction
- Lead applicant must be a non-profit legal entity (public or private) or international organisation; co-applicants may include for-profit legal entities only together with an eligible public entity, non-profit or international organisation. Natural persons are ineligible except sole traders.
- Application restriction
- Call timetable: opened 21 October 2026 and closes 24 February 2027 at 17:00 CET (Brussels); SEDIA captured record agrees on dates and open status.
- Applications closed
- No
- Consortium required
- Yes
- Eligible geography
- Applicant establishment and activity-country eligibility follow the call rules for EU Member States, OCTs and CERV associated/negotiating countries where the applicable agreement enters into force before grant signature; international organisations are treated under separate rules.
- Eligible project scope
- Activities must involve direct participation of the target groups to be eligible; listed activities include training, exhibitions, public debates, non-formal education, awareness raising, research, collection and digitisation of testimonies, publications and online tools.
- Eligible project scope
- Transition from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes (including communist and fascist dictatorships) towards democracy. • Promoting remembrance and education about past events in which fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, thought, conscience, re
- Other condition
- The reviewed call fiche sets a project lump-sum grant range and activity/event calculation parameters; it does not publish salary, stipend, named staffing role or per-person compensation rates.
- Other condition
- Financial support to third parties is not allowed under this call.
- Partner requirement
- Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least two applicants (coordinator plus at least one co-applicant); topic-specific role and country conditions still apply.
- Expected project duration, maximum
- 24 months
The call says projects normally last 12–24 months; extensions require justification and amendment. This is the upper end of an indicative range, not a hard maximum.
- Expected project duration, minimum
- 12 months
The call says projects normally last 12–24 months; extensions require justification and amendment. This is the lower end of an indicative range, not a mandatory minimum.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €28,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Call allocation
- €28,000,000
Estimated total call budget; availability depends on adoption of the 2027 EU budget, and the call reserves the right not to award all funds or to redistribute them among priorities.
- Eligible cost
- Grant uses lump-sum financing, with the amount and funding parameters set in the grant agreement; it is not an actual-cost salary reimbursement schedule.
- Project funding, maximum
- €500,000
Maximum grant awarded; separate from the topic-level allocation pool.
- Project funding, minimum
- €50,000
Minimum grant requested; the call states the grant awarded may be lower than the requested amount.
- Topic allocation
- €4,000,000
Budget allocated to this topic/priority, not per-project. Call fiche says the estimated total budget depends on adoption of the 2027 EU budget; not all funds need be awarded and redistribution between priorities is reserved.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 21 Oct 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- CERV-2026-CITIZENS-REM · European Remembrance - 2026
- Types of action
- CERV Lump Sum Grants
- Keywords
- Authoritarian regimes
- Civil society
- Crimes against humanity
- Democracy
- Democratic engagement and civic participation
- Democratic transition
- Discrimination
- EU accession
- EU integration
- Equality
- Europe in a changing world
- European identity
- Extremism
- Fake-news
- Gender
- Healing of society
- Human rights
- Inter-cultural dialogue
- LGBTQ+
- Minorities
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 21 Oct 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.