Introduction

This guide is intended for use by the national Soros foundations, OSI network programs and their grantees. It was already available on the OSI-Budapest website in 1999 but has been updated in early 2000 so as to reflect changes in EU programs. It provides an overview of EU programs that are open to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). It also includes programs that, although not open to CEE and NIS yet, will soon be available for the ten candidate countries for accession. In some instances, NGOs based in the candidate countries are now eligible to participate as partners in programs and this has been signalled where applicable. Also included are programs that, while not open to NGOs, are nonetheless worth noting.

Although most EU funding to CEE and NIS is channelled through national governments, various programs exist that provide direct financial support to NGOs (including institutes of higher education). Given the limited amount of resources of these programs and the ‘well-funded’ image of the Soros foundations, it is unrealistic to think that the Soros foundations themselves can apply for considerable levels of EU funding. However, collaboration is possible either by informing grantees about EU programs that provide funding for NGOs or by the co-financing of our grantees with the European Commission through the programs mentioned in the following pages.

This past year has seen the complete reorganization of the European Commission. As part of this reorganization the directorate generals (DGs) are no longer given a number but instead have a name denoting their field of responsibility (e.g. Agriculture, Transport and Energy, etc). The most remarkable change is probably the creation of a Directorate-General for Enlargement. This new DG merges the Accession Task Force and those parts of the former DG IA which dealt with the Central and Eastern European countries. It is widely seen as an indication of the increased political priority this new Commission has chosen to give to the accession process.

In addition, the area of external relations as a whole has been reorganized. Previously, the DGs responsible for external relations had their responsibilities defined according to the different geographical areas of the world. The areas of competence of these former DGs have now been divided along policy lines; DGs for Development, Enlargement, Trade, and External Relations have been created. The External Relations Commissioner has responsibility for coordinating the Commission’s external relations activities. He ensures that Commission has a clear identity and a coherent approach in its external activities.

In order for OSI-Brussels to be of optimum assistance to you in your dealings with the European Commission, we strongly urge you to consult us prior to submitting proposals to either the Commission or its delegations. Since we have frequent contacts with representatives of the European Commission in Brussels, it is important that OSI-Brussels is completely up to date concerning requests for funding.

In preparing this guide, it quickly became apparent that one has to be extremely vigilant in following the publications of the Official Journal of the European Communitiesand the relevant websites for calls for proposals. Often, a call for proposal is published only a couple of months before the deadline. The reader will note that many of the deadlines for 2000 have already expired. OSI-Brussels has, however, been sending out email notices to the relevant Soros foundations network program coordinators, informing them of upcoming deadlines and will continue to do so.

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