EU: Commission welcomes political agreement on LIFE+

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas welcomed the final political agreement reached by the Council and the European Parliament on the new ?LIFE+? Financial Instrument for the Environment. The overall budget foreseen for LIFE+ is just under eur 1.9 billion for the period 2007-2013 (in 2004 prices), i.e. very close to the amount initially proposed by the Commission. 78% of the budget is dedicated to project action grants and at least 50% of this has been reserved for spending on the "nature and biodiversity" part of the Programme.

LIFE+ will address all four priority areas of the Sixth Environment Action Programme (6EAP, running from 2002 to 2012) – climate change; nature and biodiversity; health and quality of life; natural resources and waste ? as well as the programme?s seven Thematic Strategies. The new programme is divided into three strands: – LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity focusing on the implementation of the EU directives on the conservation of habitats[1] and of wild birds[2], as well as further strengthening the knowledge needed for developing, assessing, monitoring and evaluating EU nature and biodiversity policy and legislation; – LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance covering the other 6EAP priorities besides nature and biodiversity, as well as strategic approaches to policy development, implementation and enforcement; – LIFE+ Information and Communication on environmental issues.

The overall budget agreed for LIFE+ follows the agreement on the Financial Perspectives reached in spring 2006. EUR 1 894 372 000 (in 2004 prices) is foreseen for the 7 years duration of the programme (2007-2013). It was agreed that at least 78% shall be used for project action grants, whereas the remaining 22% will be spent by the Commission on cross-cutting measures for the environment, such as impact assessments, communication, operational grants to NGOs, and spending in the context of combating climate change etc. At least 50% of the budgetary resources for LIFE+ dedicated to project action grants shall be allocated to support the conservation of nature and biodiversity.

(source: Consorzio Civica, info@civica.cc)