Internal Security Fund (ISF)

Strengthening the CER framework

Cross-sector and cross-border resilience stress tests of critical infrastructure

Objective: This call builds on the legacy of the Civil Society Empowerment Programme (CSEP) and the work of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) , while contributing to the ongoing activities of the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation . It reaffirms the Commission’s commitment to supporting civil society through sustainable, evidence-based actions that help protect individuals and communities from online radicalisation. The call aims to support actions that contribute to preventing and countering radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism across the European Union. In particular, it responds to the growing challenge of online radicalisation , including the manipulation of youth and vulnerable groups through violent extremist, terrorist, and other harmful content distributed via digital platforms. The general objective is to prevent and counter the spread of violent extremist content online by strengthening the capacity of civil-society actors in the EU and relevant priority third countries to respond strategically, creatively, and sustainably to evolving online threats. In line with the EU’s approach to prevention, the call focuses on empowering youth, civil-society organisations (CSOs), educators, and community leaders to become resilient actors against extremist manipulation across digital environments. Particular attention should be paid to emotional wellbeing, social trust, and the ability of communities to respond constructively to polarising events both online and offline. Projects funded under this call should combine online and offline action and involve young people and communities directly in the design and delivery of activities. Prevention efforts must be evidence-based, participatory, and guided by robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks that measure real change in awareness, attitudes, or behaviour.

Expected Impact: In the long-term , the funding is expected to: • have increased operational capacity of law enforcement and other security-oriented authorities to fight organised crime and drug production and trafficking, including an improved capability to trace and untangle complex money laundering schemes as well as illicit flows of goods. • enhance risk assessments and risk awareness and resilience measures in view of anticipating, preventing and tackling organised crime and drug related crimes. • have improved cross-border cooperation including with key third countries and information exchange (including where possible and applicable with the private sector) and sharing of challenges and good practices in fighting against organised crime. • have improved detection, identification and referral of victims of crime in the context of cross-border operational actions, as well as improved protection of victims in criminal proceedings, in cooperation with civil society organisations. Expected Outcome: Projects should aim to achieve one or more of the following outcomes: • increase understanding of the nature and modus operandi of criminal networks and key actors and enablers including in vulnerable sectors in society and specific situations such as in prisons. • increase monitoring of transportation modalities, routes, and online and detection and interdiction of illicit flows such as illicit drugs. • enhance coordination of law enforcement and other security-oriented authorities in cross-border operations and support multi-stakeholders coordinated responses. • increase involvement of the private sector and civil society and other relevant (non-law enforcement) stakeholders in preventing and combating organised crime and drug production and trafficking. • increase the availability and use of innovations and technical tools for law enforcement inter alia for detection objectives such as production sites and concealed illicit goods. Objective: The general objective of the call for proposals is combating organised crime by dismantling and disrupting criminal networks, their ringleaders and enablers, as well as several priorities of the EU Drugs Strategy that contribute to the fight against drug trafficking and preparedness to respond to drug related security threats. Applications should focus on tackling the activities of criminal networks, especially those whose activities represent a greater threat to society . Scope: The call contains 4 horizontal priority areas (for all organised crimes) and 2 crime-specific priority areas: • improving the intelligence picture on criminal networks • facilitating cross border investigations • facilitating financial investigations • supporting crime prevention measures and tackling criminal infiltration • strengthening capabilities to fight drug production and trafficking • Strengthening EU and national preparedness against drug related security threats. The project applications submitted under the present call for proposals must address one, but preferably more, of the following priorities stipulated in points 1 to 6

Expected Impact: In the long-term , the funding is expected to: • have increased operational capacity of law enforcement authorities to fight organised crime, including an improved capability to trace and untangle complex money laundering schemes. • have improved cross-border cooperation and sharing of challenges and best practices in fighting against organised crime. • have improved detection, identification and referral of victims of crime in the context of cross-border operational actions, as well as improved protection of victims in criminal proceedings, in cooperation with civil society organisations. Expected Outcome: Projects should aim to achieve one or more of the following outcomes: • increase understanding of the nature and modus operandi of criminal networks and key actors and enablers. • enhance coordination of law enforcement authorities in cross-border operations and support multi-stakeholders coordinated responses. • increase involvement of civil society and other relevant (non-law enforcement) stakeholders in preventing and combating organised crime. • increase the availability and use of technical tools for law enforcement. Objective: The overall objective of the action is to dismantle organised criminal networks engaged in trafficking in human beings (THB) in the EU, including poly criminal networks, by strengthening operational cooperation including with third countries, enhancing financial investigations, improving criminal justice effectiveness, and ensuring a robust victim-centred approach throughout the criminal justice chain Scope: • Exploring the links between trafficking in human beings and other forms of serious crime, including corruption and drug trafficking. • Increasing the detection and early identification of victims of trafficking, including in the online environment and improve detection of trafficking for all forms of exploitation, in particular for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced begging and forced criminality, trafficking for the purposes of organ removal and the trafficking and exploitation of children. • Enhancing cooperation with online platforms, technology providers, financial service providers and other private actors through structured public-private partnerships; • Intensifying cross-border cooperation between law enforcement authorities and judicial authorities by facilitate joint investigations, coordinated prosecutions, and the use of EU cooperation instruments and by strengthening information exchange and coordination in complex cross-border THB cases. • Increasing the systematic use of parallel financial investigations in THB cases and by improving tracing, freezing, confiscation, and recovery of criminal assets; • Improving overall prosecution and conviction outcomes by enhancing the specialised knowledge of prosecutors and judges regarding the specificities of THB, including evidentiary challenges, and the cross-border access to online evidence. • Improving the referral of trafficking victims to support services, following operational anti-trafficking actions, including cooperation between law enforcement authorities and victims’ support services. Guarantee victim rights and victim protection throughout the criminal proceedings. • Improving the protection of victims in criminal proceedings. • Promoting awareness raising, including measures addressing the demand that fosters trafficking in human beings .

Expected Impact: In the short term, the funding is expected to: • Increase understanding and dissemination of challenges, risks and good practices in the priority areas identified under this call; • Enhance communication, coordination and operational cooperation between authorities responsible for the prevention, detection and repression of corruption; • Improve the availability and use of data, methodologies and tools for measuring corruption risks, trends and the impact of anti-corruption measures. Where applicable, proposals should demonstrate how they build on relevant previous or ongoing EU-funded projects and existing corruption measurement frameworks. In the long term, the funding is expected to: • Improve the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of corruption across the EU; • Contribute to the implementation of EU anti-corruption policy priorities, including recommendations addressed to Member States in the Rule of Law Reports and the European Semester, as well as the objectives of the Directive on combating corruption [to be updated when adopted]; • Reduce the role of corruption as an enabler of organised crime and criminal infiltration into the licit economy; • Foster a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability across public and private sectors in the EU. Objective: In line with the European Commission’s policies, as set-out above, the objective of this call is to prevent and combat corruption, by supporting actions addressing both its prevention and repression. Scope: Project applications submitted under the present call for proposals should provide for activities supporting the prevention of, and the fight against corruption, in line with the objectives and priorities described in the call document.