The presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on the rights and values programme for the period 2021-2027. Funding through this programme aims at protecting rights and values enshrined in the EU treaties in order to sustain open, democratic and inclusive societies. It will have a substantial overall budget of maximum €1.55 billion.
In recent years, extremism, radicalism and division have grown in our societies while the space for independent civil society is shrinking. It is therefore more important than ever to promote the values that bring us together and to defend the equal rights of all our citizens. This programme will support civil society initiatives across the EU. We strengthen our democracies and the rule of law. Christine Lambrecht, German Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection
The programme will have a budget of €641.7 million, with an additional allocation of maximum €912 million and it sets out four specific objectives:
to promote equality and rights, including gender equality, anti-discrimination and the rights of children
to promote citizens engagement and participation in the democratic life of the EU and to raise awareness of the common European history
to fight violence, notably against children and women
to protect and promote EU values
The newly introduced objective to protect and promote EU values will receive a substantial allocation of € 689.5 million.
An amount of € 91.2 million will be left unattributed so as to be able to tackle any emerging needs and future challenges.
To achieve this, the programme will support civil society organisations and other stakeholders active at local, regional, national and transnational level, and encourage civic and democratic participation.
The provisional political agreement reached today will have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council. The necessary steps will be undertaken at the beginning of next year.