2020 call for project proposals under the LIFE programme
More than €450 million available for nature conservation, environmental protection and climate action projects, with measures taken to make it easier to apply in times of coronavirus restrictions.
LIFE funds projects under its environment and climate action sub-programmes, thereby helping implement the European Green Deal.
Most LIFE projects are so-called traditional projects that can be coordinated by any legal entity registered in the EU. These include public institutions, businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A lot of traditional projects show best-practices, run pilots, raise public awareness or demonstrate breakthroughs in environmental practices.
Applications are also being accepted for bigger so-called integrated projects. These projects run strategic EU plans on the environment and the climate and tend to have a regional, multi-regional, national or trans-national dimension.
New measures that the European Commission has already introduced to lessen the impact of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic include:
- All submission deadlines are being extended by one month.
- Private entities are no longer obliged to launch open tenders for contracts above 135 000 euros.
- Projects can financially support small, local initiatives.
- A special section on start-up companies has been integrated into the guidelines.
