Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE)

The LIFE programme funds environment-specific projects in the form of grants, prizes and procurement. It also finances technical assistance for investment operations, i.e. by structuring a specific Green Advisory Service for Sustainable Investments Support (Green Assist) to provide technical assistance for preparing and facilitating green operations.

Environment-specific projects can be financed through standard action projects, whereas strategic nature projects (SNAPs) and strategic integrated projects (SIPs) have the aim of supporting the implementation of a plan or strategy required by environmental and climate legislation or policies.

‘Technical Assistance’ under the LIFE Regulation can be provided under different project types:

'technical assistance projects' means mainly projects that support the development of capacity for participation in standard action projects, the preparation of strategic nature projects and strategic integrated projects. Such projects can also include capacity building related to the activities of Member States' authorities for effective participation in the LIFE Programme.

Strategic projects may include:

'strategic integrated projects' means projects that implement, on a regional, multi-regional, national or transnational scale, environmental or climate strategies or action plans developed by Member States' authorities and required by specific environmental, climate or relevant energy legislation or policy of the Union (e.g. circular economy strategies, air quality plan, climate mitigation and/or adaptation strategies, river basin management plans, waste management plans) while ensuring that stakeholders are involved and promoting coordination with and mobilisation of at least one other Union, national or private funding source,

'strategic nature projects' means projects that support the achievement of Union nature and biodiversity objectives by implementing coherent programmes of action in Member States in order to mainstream those objectives and priorities into other policies and financing instruments.

Different types of Technical Assistance can support:

1. The full implementation of plans required by environmental or climate legislation and policies (i.e. strategic integrated projects and strategic nature projects)
2. The participation to standard action projects and preparation of strategic nature projects (SNAPs) and  strategic integrated projects (SIPs) (TA-PP);
3. The capacity building of Member States authorities with low effective participation to the LIFE programme with a view to improving the National Contact Points services across the EU and to increasing the overall quality of proposals submitted (TA-CAP).

Any legal entity registered in an eligible country can apply for a TA, for TA-PP beneficiaries are mostly linked to public authorities or entities involved in the setting up of SNAPs, SIPs proposals. For TA-CAP the beneficiaries concerned are Member States Authorities which fulfils the definition of “low effective participation”.

Also funded by the LIFE programme, a specific technical support service, Green ASSIST, has been developed in the framework of the InvestEU Advisory Hub, in order to support the establishment of a pipeline of bankable green projects and the greening of investments in other sectors