EU-funded projects

Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values Programme CERV

The CERV Programme is an extensive EU funding programme, which focuses on fundamental rights, values and equality and is primarily aimed at non-governmental organisations. From the judicial perspective, the themes of the programme are important cornerstones of the civil and criminal justice systems. Authorities, universities and educational institutions can also carry out CERV projects. In Finland, the Ministry of Justice provides further information and helps with the project applications.
Find out more about CERV (oikeusministerio.fi)

Erasmus+

The Erasmus+ programme offers mobility and cooperation opportunities also in adult education. It can be used to fund cooperation projects concerning adult education in the prison and probation services. The Finnish National Agency for Education provides further information on the programme in Finland.
Find out more about Erasmus+ (erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu)

European Social Fund Plus ESF+

The European Social Fund Plus ESF+ is one of the structural funds of the EU. It aims to improve social inclusion and economic well-being in all EU countries. The ESF has been utilised in a number of EU cooperation projects concerning the prison and probation services and the Prison and Probation Service of Finland has also been involved in many of them.
Find out more about European Social Fund Plus (ec.europa.eu)

Justice Programme

The Justice Programme, which is an EU funding programme, aims to promote the development of the European area of justice by allocating funding for the judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, the advancement of the rights of the victims, suspects and persons accused of crime, the e-justice projects and the judicial training. The programme provides support for, among others, legal practitioners and civil society actors.

Depending on the topic, authorities, universities, research institutes and non-governmental organisations can apply for the EU funding. Funding may be granted for, among other things, the training of legal practitioners, analytical and monitoring activities, and raising awareness. For example, the EU funding can be used to create new projects or finance obligations arising from EU legislation.
Find out more about Justice Programme (oikeusministerio.fi)

Internal Security Fund ISF

The Internal Security Fund ISF is one of the European Union Home Affairs Funds established for the period 2021–2027. The ISF promotes a high level of security in the EU and supports internal security. The goal of the ISF is to improve the exchange of information, the cross-border cooperation and the capabilities of the Member States. The measures aim to address the key security threats. These include organised crime, terrorism, radicalisation, cybercrime, corruption, money laundering, drug trafficking and human trafficking. Another goal is to assist and protect the victims of crimes.

The ISF can support, for example, the development of ICT systems, the improvement of data collection and exchange of information, and the cooperation between authorities. In Finland, the ISF applications are coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior.
Find out more about Internal Security Fund (commission.europa.eu)

TAIEX

TAIEX is an EU funding mechanism for small-scale and agile activities in partner countries. TAIEX activities are designed to develop the administration and legislation of beneficiary countries, and therefore, it is mainly public sector bodies that can provide and receive expert assistance. The Prison and Probation Service of Finland participates in TAIEX activities by hosting visits where officials from the beneficiary countries can learn about Finnish practices.
Find out more about TAIEX (um.fi)

Twinning

Twinning projects support the development of administration and legislation in the EU enlargement and neighbourhood countries. Experts from the Prison and Probation Service have actively participated in Twinning projects.
Find out more about Twinning (um.fi)

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