DG INTPA – Directorate-General for International Partnerships

International Partnerships - European Commission

Why it matters

DG INTPA is the EU’s principal instrument for advancing democracy, sustainable development, and governance worldwide. Its influence on media and information integrity is profound: by integrating independent journalism into development cooperation, it helps ensure transparency, accountability, and citizen participation—the very foundations of the SDGs.

In many partner countries, journalism is both a development actor and a watchdog. When local media can operate safely and sustainably, they amplify voices, monitor aid delivery, and reduce corruption. INTPA’s long-term programming cycles and partnerships make it uniquely capable of embedding these values structurally, not as afterthoughts.

Opportunities and Challenges ⚖️

Opportunities:

DG INTPA’s strength is its ability to link media development with broader governance and civil-society support.

• Institution-building: INTPA can treat compliance and administrative capacity as development outcomes—helping local organisations graduate from sub-grantees to direct EU partners.

• Sustainability: Integrating media viability into democracy and human-rights programmes ensures that outlets survive beyond donor cycles.

• Evidence and learning: With its evaluation culture, INTPA can champion data-driven media support through regular mapping and research on local ecosystems.

• Partnerships: By aligning with Member States, the OECD, and IFIs, INTPA can mobilise blended finance for public-interest media.

“Local partners should finish projects better able to meet EU compliance and financial obligations.” — Interviewee, DG INTPA

Media Oversight and Global Gateway Partnerships

Context

Global Gateway is the EU’s flagship investment programme for infrastructure, aimed at mobilising €300 billion for energy, transport, digital, health, and education projects worldwide. While the initiative highlights Europe’s commitment to sustainable development and global competitiveness, stakeholders have warned that the EU’s credibility also depends on ensuring these funds are subject to scrutiny.

Some delegation members have argued that the EU needs to be more explicit in demonstrating its commitment to transparency by enabling independent media to hold power to account. Large-scale infrastructure projects are highly vulnerable to corruption, mismanagement, and elite capture. If local communities perceive EU-funded projects as opaque or benefiting only a few, the EU’s reputation as a promoter of rule of law is at risk.

Why it matters

Embedding support for watchdog journalism alongside Global Gateway projects would strengthen transparency and accountability. This could be done through existing mechanisms, by earmarking resources for investigative reporting, training journalists on infrastructure monitoring, or funding media collaborations that track procurement and delivery. Doing so would not only safeguard EU investment but also align with the EU’s broader governance and democracy agenda.

💡Infrastructure and media support should not be treated as separate silos. A whole-of-system approach means ensuring that flagship investments like Global Gateway are accompanied by support for independent scrutiny, thereby demonstrating that the EU holds itself to the same standards of transparency it promotes globally.

Challenges:

Rigid compliance systems and short-term project logic still constrain INTPA’s ability to foster long-term resilience. Many local outlets see due-diligence as an eligibility hurdle rather than a growth pathway. Staff turnover and pressure to show quick results discourage experimentation with flexible, multi-year funding models.

“We’re doing triple the work for the same budget,” a regional partner explained. “Eighteen applications in one year just to survive.”

Coordination with other DGs and Delegations remains uneven, leading to duplication of calls and limited institutional memory. Finally, INTPA programmes often focus on civil society broadly, with media support subsumed under generic governance lines, diluting strategic visibility for the sector.

💡 Making Compliance Capacity a Measurable Outcome

What this means Local partners should complete EU-funded projects better able to meet EU compliance and financial-management obligations than when they began. This shifts compliance from being a barrier to access into a capacity-building goal.

Why it matters Strict eligibility and audit requirements often exclude smaller or local media organisations from acting as lead grantees, forcing them into sub-contractor roles. By treating compliance capacity as a development gain, DG INTPA can help partners graduate from “sub-grantee” to “direct-grantee” status—advancing both localisation and accountability.

How to apply it

• Add “localisation and compliance capacity” as an evaluation criterion in calls for proposals.

• Require consortia to show how they will transfer administrative and financial-management skills to local partners.

• Include mentorship, compliance clinics, or peer-learning exchanges as explicit activity lines with indicators and budget.

• Track progress through indicators such as:

  • Number of partners certified or pre-qualified for direct EU funding after project completion.

  • Documented improvement in audit readiness or financial controls.

  • Instances where local partners assume lead-applicant roles in subsequent calls.

Example in practice In the Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI)—implemented through a multi-partner consortium—the EU required each lead organisation to dedicate staff time to compliance mentoring for local sub-grantees. Partners in the Western Balkans and Sub-Saharan Africa reported that, by project end, they were able to manage EU reporting templates and audits independently, qualifying them for direct funding under subsequent NDICI calls. This experience demonstrates that compliance mentoring within implementation both safeguards EU funds and strengthens local ownership.

Bottom line Treating compliance improvement as a reportable result helps DG INTPA meet its dual mandate: protecting EU funds and empowering local actors. It converts an administrative burden into a measurable development benefit—one that directly supports the OECD Principles on local ownership and system strengthening.

🧩 Recommendations

1. Make localisation measurable: include “institutional-capacity and compliance readiness” as formal indicators in project evaluations.

2. Create flexible, multi-year grant windows that blend core, emergency, and bridge support.

3. Harmonise reporting templates with DG ECHO and DG NEAR to reduce administrative duplication.

4. Commission joint media-landscape assessments with local experts and share findings across Delegations.

5. Establish an internal learning hub on media and information integrity to consolidate evidence across programmes.