Division 1 INTRODUCTION

According to Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 (hereinafter ‘LIFE Regulation’), the LIFE programme pursues the following general objectives:

• to contribute to the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon and climate- resilient economy, to the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment and to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, including the support of the Natura 2000 network and tackling the degradation of ecosystems,

• to improve the development, implementation and enforcement of Union environmental and climate policy and legislation, and to act as a catalyst for, and promote, the integration and mainstreaming of environmental and climate objectives into other Union policies and public and private sector practice, including by increasing the public and private sector's capacity,

• to support better environmental and climate governance at all levels, including better involvement of civil society, NGOs and local actors, and

• to support the implementation of the 7th Environment Action Programme.

The present, second LIFE multiannual work programme (MAWP) takes into account the experience gained in the period 2014 to 2017 and, in particular, the recommendations made in the mid-term evaluation^f1, which are mainly related to

1. 1..

   the simplification of the application and reporting processes;

2. 2..

   the replication of project results;

3. 3..

   the improvement of the communication strategy.

The simplification measures related to the application process are an integral part of the contents of the present LIFE MAWP (see Section 5.1.1.1 below). The need for continuation, replication and/or transfer of project results is given more emphasis in the Award phase (see Section 5.1.1.2 below) and will receive more support through procurement. The simplification of reporting will be targeted through project management procedures and by giving beneficiaries access to an on-line data base facilitating the collection of the data related to the key project indicators. The improvement of the communication strategy is achieved through procurement. These measures are thus not addressed in detail in the present LIFE MAWP.

The present LIFE MAWP also takes up recent developments, in EU policy, such as the circular economy action plan^f2 and the Action plan on nature, people and the economy^f3, and shall serve as a bridge to future funding for ‘sustainability’ as outlined in the Reflection paper on the future of EU finances^f4. The following changes have been included:

As regards the sub-programme for Environment:

• reduction of the number of project topics (from 87 to 42) and more pronounced focus to increase the steer of applicants to EU policy priorities while increasing the chances for projects in certain sub-areas like biodiversity and circular economy, but also projects with a strong and direct impact on the health of the majority of European citizens,

• reorientation of the governance and information project topics to focus more on specific awareness raising and governance-related issues.

As regards both sub-programmes:

• further enhancement of the results-orientation by introducing the requirement to produce measurable effects on the environment or climate change under all priority areas,

• encouragement of further engagement of private entities by highlighting the advantages of close-to-market approaches as a tool for ensuring sustainability of the project results. Support actions that help to develop investment-ready economically and environmentally viable projects that mobilise additional private and public financial resources for scale-up and replication of results,

• simplification of the grant management procedures, in particular by testing a two-stage application procedure for pilot, demonstration, best practice and information, awareness and dissemination projects, as suggested in the mid-term evaluation of the LIFE programme.

The mid-term evaluation of the LIFE programme, and the European Parliament (with regard to EU spending)^f5 confirmed the need and importance of measurable effects of projects on the ground. The LIFE programme contains performance indicators and the multiannual work programmes contain quantitative (i.e. output) and qualitative outcome indicators in line with these. To be able to report on these indicators on programme level, beneficiaries need to forecast and measure the environmental, climate, and governance and information, i.e. societal, effects at project level in relation to specific output and outcome indicators^f6. To ensure that these effects are lasting, i.e. sustainable in time, they also need to establish robust mechanisms to ensure that projects have effects beyond the original project area by extension and replication. The clear and coherent explanation of how the continuation, replication and/or transfer of projects' activities and effects will be ensured, therefore becomes an even more decisive award criterion in the evaluation of project proposals. By their nature, successfully demonstrated close-to market solutions to environmental and climate change challenges have a particularly high chance to be continued, replicated and/or transferred. Proposals credibly and coherently presenting a strategy to reach marketability by the end of the project, will therefore score high under this criterion.

The mid-term evaluation analysed in line with Article 25 of the LIFE Regulation and confirmed the ability of the LIFE programme to promote synergies within the programme. The reflection papers on the future of EU Finances^f7 emphasise the importance of the social dimension in European policies. For the LIFE programme this should provide an impetus to seek even more synergies among the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. Therefore, well-conceived multi-purpose approaches, pursuing, besides their primary environmental or climate action objectives, e.g. social integration or economic growth, will receive a bonus^f8. For instance, nature and biodiversity protection activities and activities aimed at enhancing the circular economy, hold a potential to contribute to community building and social integration. The circular economy can face challenges to demonstrate economic viability, and in many cases it is important that the social dimension (for example for job market integration of disadvantaged individuals) is taken into account.

The LIFE programme allows for ‘other projects’ and ‘other activities’. This flexibility can be used to experiment with new approaches, new project types and support services for existing projects, and/or stakeholders not attracted by the traditional project formats. For example, the gap between the successful application of environment or climate action solutions in LIFE projects and their actual access to the market could often be bridged, if the most promising LIFE projects were to receive specific support to access markets and potential investors. This could consist in a complementary project concentrating on market access support, project-specific business management and fund acquisition coaching, support for building up and/or collaborating within circular economy clusters or annual prizes for projects with a particularly high EU added value. Should the new Financial Regulation allow for more flexibility regarding the attribution of lump sums for specific outcomes, this might also be used for capacity building towards ‘bankability’ of investment projects and market access.

The LIFE programme is managed by the Commission services themselves and by the Executive Agency (EA) to which this task has been delegated in direct management. The EA acts within the limits of the delegation according to the Commission Decision C(2013) 9414 or any Commission Decision replacing it and under the supervision of the Commission services. The overall responsibility for the programme remains with the Commission. External experts may be contracted to support the Commission services and/or the EA in their work.

In application of the principle of complementarity with other European funding programmes set out in recitals 5, 11 and 13 and Article 8 of the LIFE Regulation, the implementation of the MAWP will ensure consistency and synergies, and avoid overlap with other Union policies and financial instruments as far as possible, seeking complementarity to Horizon 2020^f9, the Union's research and innovation programme for 2014-2020, and with its work programmes^f10. This will mainly be achieved through the eligibility criteria for the different project types and orientations in the application guidelines accompanying the calls^f11, seeking complementarity to Horizon 2020. Double funding will be avoided through cross-checking during the selection phase and through ex post verifications. Projects focused on research or the construction of large infrastructure, which are covered by other EU programmes, are excluded from funding through the LIFE programme.

The structure of the MAWP follows the structure set out in Article 24(2) of the LIFE Regulation and only addresses the sub-programmes Environment and Climate Action separately, where necessary.

It covers the period from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020.