National Call for Proposals: Supporting Research on EU Accession in the Area of Anti-Corruption

The EU Anti-corruption Initiative (EUACI) is pleased to announce a new call for proposals supporting high-quality policy research, analytical studies, monitoring and evidence-based recommendations focused on anti-corruption reforms within the context of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. This initiative aims to strengthen knowledge, inform policymaking, and contribute to transparent, accountable governance aligned with EU standards.

The EUACI is a collaborative initiative funded by the European Union and the Government of Denmark, with the aim of supporting Ukraine in its efforts to reduce corruption at both national and local levels. The new phase, launched in January 2024, focuses on key strategic objectives: reducing corruption in Ukraine, advancing anti-corruption reforms, and implementing reconstruction efforts in war-affected areas with a strong emphasis on transparency, accountability, and integrity.

The EUACI operates across four intervention areas:

1. Support to independent state institutions fighting and preventing corruption.
2. Transparency and accountability of the reconstruction process.
3. Support for cities in war-affected areas to enhance integrity in the reconstruction process.
4. Civil society and media engagement in preventing and fighting corruption.

National Call for Supporting Research regarding EU accession in the area of anti-corruption is announced under intervention area 4.

Background on the grant competition

Following the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine in June 2022 and the successful completion of the seven reform steps outlined by the European Commission, the European Council decided in December 2023 to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.

Ukraine is currently engaged in an active negotiation process structured around the 35 chapters of the EU acquis. Within this framework, Chapter 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Chapter 24: Justice, Freedom and Security are of particular importance, as they encompass core rule of law and anti-corruption requirements.

Chapter 23 includes a dedicated focus on the fight against corruption. Furthermore, the Negotiating Framework for Ukraine emphasizes the mainstreaming of anti-corruption policies across all relevant negotiating chapters, establishing that no chapter may be provisionally closed until sufficient anti-corruption policies have been implemented.

EU accession requirements in this area are closely aligned with key elements of the EU acquis, including:

• Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of whistle-blowers, which sets standards for reporting and protecting individuals who expose corruption and misconduct.
• Directive (EU) 2024/1260 on asset recovery and confiscation, which strengthens frameworks for asset tracing, freezing, and confiscation of criminal proceeds and instrumentalities.
• The proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating corruption (COM (2023) 234 final) (so-called Anti-corruption Directive) which is in the process of adoption.
• Broader EU legislation and standards on public procurement transparency, financial control, and prevention of fraud and corruption.

In May 2025, the Government of Ukraine has adopted a Rule of Law Roadmap, outlining a comprehensive sequence of reforms aimed at strengthening judicial independence, enhancing the effectiveness of anti-corruption institutions, and ensuring alignment with EU standards.

In December 2025, Ukraine and the European Union further agreed on a targeted 10-point reform plan (“Kachka–Kos 10 Points”), prioritizing urgent and high-impact measures in the areas of anti-corruption and the rule of law for implementation throughout 2026.

As part of the ongoing accession process, Ukraine has also received a detailed set of benchmarks negotiation chapters, including interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24. These benchmarks serve as concrete conditions to be met for EU membership.

The EUACI considers it important to further support Ukraine and Ukrainian civil society engagement in the EU accession process and in anti-corruption reforms.

At the beginning of 2025, the EUACI provided grant support under the National Call for Supporting Anti-Corruption Advocacy and Analytics Regarding EU Accession, supporting CSOs and think tanks in their advocacy and communication activities related to EU integration efforts, with a particular focus on anti-corruption measures.

Current grant competition aims to support high-quality research and policy engagement initiatives with a strong anti-corruption focus, contributing to the achievement of the benchmarks of the EU acquis and Ukraine’s Roadmap within Chapters 23 and 24, as well as the implementation of the 10-point reform plan (“Kachka–Kos 10 Points”) related to anti-corruption, provide guidance and recommendations to Ukrainian government and specialized anti-corruption institutions, inform EU’s assessment of Ukraine’s progress outlined in annual so called Enlargement package on Ukraine, etc.

Objectives and priority issues

The objective of the Call is to strengthen independent CSOs’ high-quality policy research, analytical studies, monitoring and evidence-based recommendations in the area of anti-corruption and follow up advocacy focused on anti-corruption reforms within the context of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

Priority Thematic Areas:

Proposed research papers and analytical documents shall focus on assessing and developing recommendations as to one or more of the following thematic priority areas:

• Strengthening the institutional capacity, effectiveness, and independence of specialised anti-corruption institutions: National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP).
• Improving a track record in investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of corruption cases, particularly at the high level, as well as a track record of seizures and final confiscations of corruption proceeds and instrumentalities.
• Improving a track record of corruption prevention measures, particularly on asset disclosure, conflict of interest and related restrictions (gifts, incompatibilities etc.), lobbying, etc.
• Progress in the development, implementation, and enforcement of legal and policy frameworks in the area of anti-corruption.
• Harmonisation of Ukraine’s anti-corruption legislation with the EU acquis, including Directives mentioned above, implementation of recommendations of GRECO and OECD in the area of anti-corruption.
• Conducting corruption risk assessments in sectors most vulnerable to corruption, including the development of evidence-based recommendations to mitigate major corruption risks.

Eligible types of activities include, but are not limited to:

• Monitoring of the practice of work of anti-corruption institutions and performance of their core functions.
• Studies related to track record of prevention of corruption, e.g., practice of verification of asset declarations and lifestyle monitoring by the NACP; oversight in the area of conflict of interest, gift policies, incompatibilities, post-employment restrictions etc.; Anti-Corruption Strategy and State Anti-Corruption Program implementation, oversight in the area of lobbying, whistle-blower protection, etc.
• Studies related to repression of corruption, e.g., about duration of pre-trial investigations, statute of limitations, disposition time in courts, legal and practical measures to preventing delays and streamlining the efficiency of criminal trials; analysis of unity of court practice, including judicial practice of plea agreements and applied criminal sanctions, etc.
• Strengthening the institutional capacity, effectiveness, and independence of specialised anti-corruption institutions, including through strengthening framework for independent external effectiveness assessments, selection processes, internal control, civic oversight mechanisms, ensuring timely access to independent and high-quality forensic examinations in high-level corruption cases, etc.
• Studies on issues related to strengthening integrity, transparency, and accountability standards in the Parliament of Ukraine.

Projects are expected to deliver:

• High-quality research reports, policy papers, shadow reports, analytical briefs, or other analytical documents with clear findings, conclusions, and policy recommendations related to thematic priorities mentioned above.

• Dissemination activities (workshops, presentations, expert engagement, stakeholder engagement, advocacy meeting) in Ukraine and EU.
• Advocacy activities aimed at promoting findings outlined in analytical documents developed.

All applications must have a strong anti-corruption focus.

It is expected that communication and advocacy campaigns will be included as part of the project

Geographic Scope:

Applications are welcome from all regions.

Budget:

Total budget of the call: EUR 170,000.

Applicants are encouraged to propose projects with a budget of approximately EUR 50,000. The maximum grant amount per project is EUR 70,000.

It is expected that 2–3 projects will be selected for funding under this call.

Implementation period: 01 July 2026 – 01 March 2027

Project duration may vary depending on proposed activities but must fall within the indicated timeframe.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must:

• Be a legal entity officially registered according to Ukrainian legislation.
• Be a nonprofit civil society organization with codes 0032, 0034, 0036, 0038, 0039.
• Have proven experience in the research.
• Have proven organizational capacity to manage and implement grants.

Please note! Applications may be submitted individually or in consortia/partnerships/networks

A positive financial assessment by the EUACI of the selected project will be a condition for receiving support.

Evaluation criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

• Compliance with formal eligibility criteria.
• Relevance to the objectives of the call.
• Experience and expertise of the organization.
• Project feasibility, clarity, and potential for impact.
• Budget clarity and cost-effectiveness.
• Sustainability and scalability of proposed solutions.
• The level of the thematic expertise of the organization and experience in the anti-corruption sphere.

Evaluation will be conducted by a Selection Committee composed of external anti-corruption experts, along with EUACI team members.

Eligible applicants include:

• Think tanks with proven sectoral expertise in the competition focus areas.
• University-based expert CSOs with demonstrated analytical capacity.
• Anti-corruption civil society organizations.
• Networks or consortia of CSOs (strongly encouraged).

Important:
All applicant organizations must either:

• Have in-house anti-corruption expertise or
• Formally engage external anti-corruption experts within the project team.

All projects must:

• Demonstrate relevant experience in policy research, anti-corruption, and sectoral analysis.
• Submit a preliminary draft of the research methodology as part of the application.
• Present a clear vision of the research project, including dissemination and advocacy activities.
• Include a peer review component for the research products.
• Organize at least one public presentation and discussion of the research findings.
• Eligibility of costs

Only eligible costs can be covered by a grant. See annex E. Applicants may include costs for organizational development, strategic planning, fundraising events, and similar activities in the project budget.

Ethics and code of conduct

Grant applicants are expected to live up to high ethical standards as well as organisational integrity, including respect for human rights as well as environmental legislation, compliance with core labour standards and zero-tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH), corruption, money-laundering and terrorism. Applicants may be excluded at any stage of the selection process if they do not live up to requirements in this area.

Duration, grant size and number of proposals to be selected

The planned duration of the proposal must not exceed 8 months and all projects must be completed by 01 March 2027.

The overall indicative amount made available under this Call for proposals is 170 000 EUR.

Application and selection process

To apply for this call for proposals applicants must provide information about the organisations/entities involved in the proposal by completing the Background information form (see template in Annex F).

The MFA is not obliged to fully support the proposals submitted. Hence, the MFA will inform the lead applicants that have been preselected, about their tentative level of funding and give feedback to the concept note. However, the MFA shall not define any activity and/or output, as this would constitute grounds for a procurement process instead of a grant award.

Applicants must submit the following documents by email to [email protected], with a copy to [email protected], indicating in the subject line: National Call for Supporting Research on EU Accession in the Area of Anti-Corruption:

• Project Proposal (Annex 1)
• Budget (Annex 2)
• Background Information Form (Annex F)
• Preliminary draft of the research methodology
• CVs of key team members

All documents must be submitted in English.

Applications received after the deadline or without a detailed budget will not be considered.

If you do not receive a confirmation of receipt within 3 working days, please contact: [email protected] and [email protected]

Information Session

A presentation of the grant call will be held on May 8, 2026, at 11:00 Kyiv time in both online and offline formats.

• Online broadcast: EUACI YouTube channel and Facebook page
• Registration link: https://forms.gle/7vZjBcwz3YCFd1rv7

Questions and Clarifications

Questions in English or Ukrainian should be sent to [email protected]  and [email protected] no later than May,22, 2026, at 17:00 Kyiv time with a clear reference to the title of the call National Call for Supporting Research regarding EU accession in the area of anti-corruption

EUACI may decline to respond to questions submitted after this deadline.

Please note that EUACI will not provide prior assessments of applicant eligibility or proposal content.

The project proposal will be evaluated and scored by the MFA Evaluation Committee.

The MFA will make the final selection of application(s) based on the scoring of the full project proposals. The MFA will inform the applicants about the outcome of the evaluation by June 30, 2026.

The MFA reserves the right to reject applications that do not conform to the instructions at any stage of the selection process.

Final eligibility assessment

Before the final award of grant, the MFA must conduct a final eligibility assessment, e.g., by requiring supporting documents and initiating further inquiries as part of the MFA’s obligation to carry out a partner assessment/ due diligence review (cf. MFA Financial Management Guidelines for Development Cooperation)[1].  The purpose of this assessment is to ascertain grant recipients’ financial, operational, organisational capacity and compliance with general safeguards and MFA requirements.

Administration and dialogue with the MFA

The call for proposals and the subsequent project/grant will be managed by Component 4: Civil society and media engagement in preventing and fighting corruption.

The grant will be administered according to the Guidelines for bilateral cooperation Guidelines for Programmes, Projects, Country Strategic Frameworks & Hard Earmarked Multilateral Support]

1. Tentative timetable for the application and selection process

[1] https://amg.um.dk/bilateral-cooperation/financial-management