Article 8 Complementarity

The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that support from the LIFE Programme is consistent with the policies and priorities of the Union and complementary to other financial instruments of the Union while also ensuring that simplification measures are implemented.

Operations financed under the LIFE Programme shall comply with Union and national law, including Union state aid rules. In particular, funding under the LIFE Programme which constitutes state aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU shall be notified by Member States to the Commission and may not be put into effect until it is approved by the Commission in accordance with Article 108(3) TFEU, unless it complies with a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 2(1) and Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 994/98.

In accordance with their respective responsibilities, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure coordination between the LIFE Programme and the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, in order to create synergies, particularly in the context of integrated projects, and to support the use of solutions, methods and approaches developed under the LIFE Programme. Such coordination shall take place within the framework established by the Common Provisions Regulation and through the Common Strategic Framework and the mechanisms set out in the Partnership Agreements as required by that Regulation.

The Commission shall also ensure consistency and synergies, and avoid overlap between the LIFE Programme and other Union policies and financial instruments, in particular Horizon 2020 and those in the framework of the Union's external action.