In September 2021, financial assistance to compensate freelance journalists for lost income due to the health crisis was created, as well as a dedicated application platform.

A third campaign was launched in May 2022. It examined the cases of freelance journalists who were declared ineligible during previous campaigns (October 2021 and February 2022) and yet suffered freelance losses between 2019 and 2020 and those who suffered a drop in revenue between 2019 and 2021.

Applicants were informed at the end of July 2022 of the amount of aid allocated to them, which will be paid in September 2022.

Freelance journalists eligible for funding

Freelance journalists who fulfill the following conditions shall be eligible for exceptional assistance:

• have received a minimum of five monthly eip newsletters in 2019;
• have received in 2019 an annual amount of gross revenue of EUR 3 000 or more;
• have experienced a decrease in the annual revenue of freelancers between 2019 and 2021;
• have a reference tax income for 2021 of not more than EUR 80 000.

Compensation rate

The amount of the aid that is paid results from the application of a rate (so-called ‘compensation rate’) to a base consisting of the net loss of freelance salaries incurred by the freelancer between 2019 and 2021.

The compensation rate for the year 2021 is as follows:

The compensation rate shall be modulated according to the number of shares in the tax household of the applicant in 2021: