Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit LIFE+ Results and lessons learned from the first application round 2007 Anne Louise Friedrichsen, European Commission - DG ENV LIFE unit

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Budget LIFE+ Overall budget : € billion At least 78% dedicated to project action grants: –Gradually increasing: M€ M€ M€ Me –Minimum 50% to NAT: € in 2007 –Indicative National Allocations Up to 22% for operational expenses of DG ENV –NGO operational grants, impact assessments, management of LIFE+, Communication activities such as Green week

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Indicative National Allocations 2008 CountryIndicative amountCountryIndicative amountCountryIndicative amount AT €FI €MT € BE €FR €NL € BU €GR €PL € CY €HU €PT € CZ €IE €RO € DE €IT €SE € DK €LT €SI € EE €LU €SK € ES €LV €UK €

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit 2007 Application package 2008 Call for proposals + national annual priorities General guidelines for applicants Specific guidelines for applicants (merged with general guidelines) –LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity (considerable changes in guidelines) –LIFE+ Environment policy and governance (definition of innovation and demonstration) –LIFE+ Information and Communication (considerable changes in guidelines) –Guidelines for the completion of the financial application forms Application forms (one per component + financial forms) submission format –Part A: Administrative information (public bodies only) –Part B: Technical application forms + output monitoring indicators –Part C: Detailed technical description of the proposed actions –Financial forms (2% civil servants rule) Evaluation guide: eligibility criteria, merge of award critiria

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit 2007 Evaluation and selection phases Proposals: 707 (264 NAT, 325 ENV, 118 INF) Eligibility: 585 retained (82%), 122 rejected Financial selection: 509 retained (87%) (Public authorities 283, others 226), 70 rejected, 6 not evaluated Technical selection: 423 retained, 86 rejected Award: 181 retained Revision: 168 proposals ( reserve) Selected: 143 projects

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Eligibility: reasons for failure Without request for further information (51) –Several forms missing or incomplete: 43 –Not submitted in electronic format: 2 –Not submitted via national authority: 3 –Beneficiary not legally constituted in EU: 3 After request for further information (71) –No reply within 7 work days: 36 !!! –Resubmitted docs still incomplete: 26 –Beneficiary refused to submit docs: 9

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Eligibility: 2008 changes Public bodies (+ declaration) replace the unclear distinction between public bodies and public authorities Further information deadline 5 workdays Submission formats: PDF scan and produced

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Financial selection: reasons for failure Negative assessment (insufficient financial capacity): 35 Proof for public authority status not provided: 26 Assessment not possible (insufficient data):4 Auditors certificate not qualified, adequate: 5

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Technical selection: reasons for failure ENV: Neither innovation nor demonstration: 4 INF: Not within the scope: 4 Nature: –Not within scope: 5 –Neither best practice nor demonstration: 2 –Less than 25% for concrete conservation actions: 18 –Insufficient/ inadequate Natura2000 conservation status: 14 Biodiversity: –Not within scope: 6 –Neither innovation nor demonstration: 23 –Less than 25% for concrete conservation actions: 10

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit 2007 Award evaluation criteria 2008 Technical coherence and quality (8/15) Financial coherence and quality (8/15) Contribution to the general objectives of LIFE+ (12/25) European added value (12/25) (15/30) Complementarity and optimal use of EU funding (5/10) out Transnational character (5) National added value (5) (10) and compliance with National annual priorities

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Revision phase 2007 Withdrawn proposals: 13 Budget reductions for all proposals Forest Focus project: EU contribution reduced from 45 to 16.1 mio€

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit The final list: national allocations Blue: national allocation used White: national allocation not used Yellow: national allocation surpassed (all amounts in €)

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Final shortlist Proposals submitted vs. projects retained per policy area

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Final list by Member State and by component

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Lessons learned for 2008 Eligibility criteria softened Financial viability criteria restricted to private bodies Clarification provided on the scope of LIFE+ biodiversity and INF

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Important dates 2008 call 15/07/2008:Call for proposals 21/11/2008:Deadline to national authorities 05/01/2009:Deadline to the Commission Evaluation and selection 01/01/2010:Project start date

Anne Louise Friedrichsen, LIFE unit Conclusions Information on LIFE+ and call available on website Questions ? Contact you national authority ! Carefully follow instructions on formalities Focus on your main objective: the environment ! Good luck and thank you for your attention