✅ Coordination & Coherence Checklist

Purpose: To ensure that EU-funded media support is complementary, efficient, and mutually reinforcing across institutions, Member States, and partners — reducing duplication, administrative burden, and competition while maximising impact on media freedom, sustainability, and information integrity. Apply this checklist during programme design, donor consultations, and review cycles.

---

🧩 1. Coordination Architecture

Area	Key Questions	Action Points
Institutional	Are coordination roles and responsibilities clearly assigned across DGs, EEAS, and executive agencies?	Establish focal points and cross-DG taskforces with clear ToRs; maintain shared calendars of calls and evaluations.
Field Level	Do EU Delegations convene regular donor huddles?	Hold monthly coordination meetings with Member States, donors, and implementers; log outcomes and next steps.
Member States	Are bilateral initiatives aligned with EU-level programming?	Create local “donor compacts” or MoUs to formalise joint visibility, funding pipelines, and reporting expectations.
Civil Society & Implementers	Are partners included in coordination processes?	Budget partner time for coordination; include consultation costs as eligible expenditures.

💡 Tip: Assign one coordination lead per programme — coordination cannot depend on ad hoc goodwill.

---

🔄 2. Streamlining Procedures

Dimension	Minimum Standard	Enhanced Practice
Reporting	Accept joint templates across DGs and donors.	Develop single-entry “media portal” for narrative and financial reporting across funding streams.
Auditing	Permit pooled or shared audits where grantees have multiple EU contracts.	Establish framework agreements for third-party audits recognised by all DGs.
Due Diligence	Apply proportional standards based on size and risk profile.	Create “once-only” registration for media grantees to avoid repeated vetting.
Monitoring & Learning	Share MEL indicators and data repositories.	Commission cross-DG synthesis reports on ecosystem impact and learning.

💡 Tip: Every extra form or audit costs time that small media do not have. Coordination is a protection against administrative harm.

---

🗺️ 3. Strategic Coherence

Area	Good Practice	Enhanced Practice
Policy Alignment	Link media support with rule-of-law, digital, and security agendas.	Use cross-committee EP/Council resolutions to embed coordination goals across sectors.
Programming	Reference existing assessments before commissioning new ones.	Pool analytical work under shared contracts and make findings accessible to all donors.
Visibility & Risk	Coordinate communications to avoid over-exposure.	Maintain a shared “harm log” documenting visibility waivers and safety decisions.

💡 Tip: Coherence means recognising that media support is not a silo — it underpins governance, economy, and security.

---

🤝 4. Partnership & Burden-Sharing

Dimension	Minimum Safeguard	Enhanced Practice
Joint Funding	Participate in pooled or co-financed mechanisms.	Create shared EU + Member State trust funds managed through a single reporting line.
Coordination Costs	Recognise staff time and meeting logistics as eligible.	Include a dedicated coordination budget line (5–10 %) in large programmes.
Learning & Feedback	Integrate coordination review into mid-term evaluations.	Conduct annual “coordination audits” assessing duplication, partner feedback, and time spent on reporting.

“Coordination is currently ad hoc and dependent on individual effort — we need a mechanism with a clear owner and shared accountability.” — EU Delegation official

---

⚙️ 5. Digital Tools & Transparency

Area	Baseline Requirement	Enhanced Practice
Information Sharing	Maintain updated lists of ongoing media projects accessible to EU services.	Launch a secure, searchable EU-wide dashboard of media support actions.
Knowledge Management	Archive evaluations and lessons learned across institutions.	Create an open “Media Support Knowledge Hub” hosted by the Commission SG.
Data Protection	Ensure confidential partner data is shared only on a need-to-know basis.	Standardise redaction and anonymisation protocols across DGs.

💡 Tip: Transparency enables trust — but coordination tools must also protect sensitive data.

---

💡 6. Reminder

Coordination is an investment, not an overhead. Fragmented support wastes resources and erodes partners’ trust. Systematic coordination ensures that public funds reach independent media efficiently, that reporting requirements are proportional, and that Europe speaks with one coherent voice in defending information integrity.