Meeting of the Union programme Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) National Contact Points Network

The meeting of the Network organised by the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers (DG Just) and the Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA) was held from 20 to 21 May 2025 in Bruxelles.

Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs (GOfNGOs) as the National Contact Point from the CERV programme was participated on the two days meeting that gathered the National Contact Points’ representatives from more than 20 countries, as well as the DG Just and EACEA representatives.

The meeting key themes were:
 
The CERV programme implementation: What we have learnt until now and which challenges are to be expected
Introduction discussion offered an overview of the previous experiences in the programme implementation, with the focus on:

• Increased number of applications, low success rates in individual calls and increasing competition at EU level
• Need for additional strengthening of applicants
• Challenges in preserving of quality and relevance of projects and
• Importance of transparency and exchanging of knowledge, statistical data and information between the European Commission (EC) and National Contact Points Network. 

Panel discussion: New EC and political priorities of the CERV programme
The EC representatives from the individual EC departments presented:

• New political directions and priorities of the EC in the next period, as well as the relevant strategic documents related to the topics covered by the CERV programme,
• Importance of strategic preservation of the fundamental rights and rule of law, as well as strengthening of the civil society

 
Presentation of the CERV projects - Belgium good practice examples
Two successful projects co-financed by the CERV programme were presented during the inspirational session.
 
The second day of the Meeting, on the Wednesday, the 21^st May, was conceived as group work of the EACEA, EC and the National Contact Points Network employees in a form of “world cafe”
 
Thematic group discussion were focused on:

• Analysis of the previous programme implementation and ways of improving of cooperation among the National Contact Points and
• Defining what makes a quality and relevant project in the context of the CERV programme, especially in view of the high competition

 
The participants exchanged experiences, good practices and suggestions for the Programme’s improving.
 
The Meeting was finalized by organised visit to the House of European History with the aim of better understanding of the common history, as well as the promotion of EU fundamental values.
 
We are thanking all the partners for cooperation and inspirational knowledge and ideas exchanging!
 

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