EESC opens applications for its Civil Society Prize on combating poverty in the EU

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has launched its 16th Civil Society Prize. The specific objective of this edition is to reward innovative and creative not-for-profit initiatives carried out in the EU that effectively combat poverty, by alleviating the consequences of material deprivation, improving the economic and social inclusion of people living in poverty and creating an enabling environment that prevents and protects against poverty. 

The Committee plans to award a maximum of three prizes: EUR 12 000 for the first prize, EUR 10 000 for the second prize and EUR 8 000 for the third prize. 

The deadline for entries is 10:00 CET on 6 November 2026. 

The award ceremony is likely to take place during the EESC Civil Society Week, expected in spring 2027.

The aim of the EESC’s flagship Civil Society Prize is to reward and encourage initiatives by individuals and private law bodies, including civil society organisations, that have made a significant contribution to promoting European identity, European values and European integration.

Who can apply?

Applications can be submitted by civil society organisations officially registered within the European Union and acting at local, regional, national or European level. The prize is also open to individuals and to companies or firms registered or operating in the EU, provided that their projects are strictly not-for-profit. Public authorities, governmental organisations and other public bodies are not eligible. 

All eligible initiatives and projects must be carried out in the EU. They must have already been implemented or still be ongoing on 6 November 2026. Initiatives which have been planned but whose implementation has not started by that date will be excluded. 

The full description of requirements and the online application form are available on the EESC’s dedicated Civil Society Prize webpage. 

Which project themes are eligible? 

To be eligible, entries must cover at least one of the issues listed in the eligibility criteria published in the rules governing the 16th EESC Civil Society Prize, available on the EESC’s dedicated webpage.

The activities or initiatives proposed for the prize can cover a wide range of themes, such as:

• providing adequate income and social protection;
• ensuring universal access to affordable, high-quality social and essential services;
• offering education, upskilling, re-skilling and lifelong learning opportunities;
• creating quality local jobs, including in disadvantaged regions;
• combating in-work poverty through quality jobs, fair wages and decent working conditions;
• implementing corporate volunteering and other private-sector-driven not-for-profit initiatives;
• tackling energy poverty, the rising cost of living, homelessness and financial exclusion;
• involving people experiencing poverty in designing solutions and shaping policy;
• addressing the specific needs of groups at risk, including children, single parents, older people, people with disabilities, migrants, ethnic minorities and people living in remote areas.

To apply, click here.

More about the theme of this year's prize 

Around 92.7 million people, or 20.9% of the EU population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025. People living in households with dependent children, women, young adults aged 18-24, people with a low level of education, unemployed people, migrants and ethnic minorities are among those most at risk. In-work poverty also remains a pressing concern, with about one in ten workers in Europe struggling to make ends meet despite being employed. 

Poverty in Europe is structural, persistent and often intergenerational. Recent overlapping crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, energy price shocks, inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine, have eroded households’ purchasing power and pushed vulnerable people deeper into hardship. The housing crisis has also become an acute threat to living standards, with homelessness on the rise and increasingly affecting working people too.

The EESC has also welcomed the EU’s first Anti-Poverty Strategy and has called for comprehensive and ambitious measures across employment, education, social protection, health, housing, energy and digital inclusion. Poverty eradication and the EESC’s involvement in implementing the EU anti-poverty strategy are among the priorities in President Boland’s work programme.

By awarding its 16th Civil Society Prize to not-for-profit initiatives that combat poverty, the Committee aims to highlight projects that uphold the fundamental right to a life in dignity, demonstrate solidarity with those in need and empower people to build a better future.

Previous Civil Society Prizes

The 15th edition rewarded projects combating the harmful polarisation of European society: the first prize went to the Slovak Debate Association for its Critical Thinking Olympiad (CTO) programme, with the second prize going to Reporters d'Espoir's Prix Européen Jeunes Reporters d'Espoirs and the third prize going to FEC Diversité asbl for its ESCAPE GAME EXTREME DROITE pour se désintoxiquer educational game. The 14^th edition saw the first prize go to the AgeWell project by the Third Age Foundation. Other topics in the past have included gender equality and women’s empowerment, European identities and cultural heritage, and migration.