LIFE (EU)

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L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement (short: LIFE ) is a financial instrument of the EU to promote environmental measures across the EU and in selected candidate, acceding and neighboring countries of the EU.

Every new LIFE program begins with the adoption of the regulation on eligibility criteria and grant schemes. Since 2006, there has been a vote among the EU countries as to which countries should be classified as particularly worthy of funding. Then there is a collective phase in which the individual countries can submit applications. This is followed by a consultation phase in which it is ultimately decided which projects are to be funded and how much. The subsidy usually amounts to a maximum of 50% of the total investment volume of a project.

history

Since the 1970s, the EU has become increasingly aware of the importance of protecting the environment. After the bird protection directive (VoSchRL) was passed in 1979, it was clear that financial support was necessary for conservation. A number of funding plans came about in the 1980s. The first program was to develop new clean technologies and techniques for measuring and monitoring the environment or natural habitats. Other projects specialized in the conservation of the Mediterranean and the North European marine regions. The main focus was on the conservation of water resources, keeping the oceans clean and environmentally friendly waste disposal. Another program served to preserve the habitat and thus to support the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, newly created in 1992 .

All projects were individual measures with a short duration without uniform administration. The urgency of environmental protection and its financial support became more and more evident in view of the growing EU. The time had come for the creation of a uniform environmental fund with defined fields of action: LIFE was founded.

The LIFE program

LIFE I

The first funding project ran from 1992 to 1995. It comprised 731 projects with a total of 400 million euros.

The focus was on:

  • Supporting sustainable production and development of clean technologies
  • Pollution and waste disposal
  • Development of new measurement and monitoring methods for environmental protection
  • Protection of habitats and nature in the FFH areas (own habitat committee)
  • Actions outside the EU

In German projects, the focus was on the new federal states.

LIFE II

The next phase lasted from 1996 to 1999. The budget was increased to 450 million euros. It was particularly important to include the newly acceded EU countries. For the first time, LIFE was divided into three categories:

  • LIFE-Nature (46% of the funding)
  • LIFE-Environment (46% of the funding)
  • LIFE third countries (8% of funding)

LIFE-Umwelt focuses on environmental policy and legislation. Another task is environmental monitoring and waste management. The integration of environmental concerns into urban and landscape planning is also becoming increasingly important.

LIFE-Natur is the program for the implementation of the Bird Protection and Habitats Directive. Its aim is to preserve and restore habitats in these areas. However, species protection is only possible through the formation of networks, which is why the Natura 2000 sub-program was founded. Natura 2000 is about the networking of habitats of wild animals and plants, taking into account economic, social and cultural requirements. In order to make this program EU-wide successful, the special features of each member state should also be taken into account.

When LIFE II ended, a LIFE week was held for the first time , where all participants of the various LIFE projects met to exchange experiences. The event was so successful that the EU continued it in the form of the Brussels “Green Week”.

LIFE III

The last funding project in conventional form originally lasted from 2000 to 2004. This time the budget was set at 640 million. The three categories of environment, nature and third countries were retained. However, only projects in FFH and VSchRL areas were supported. This encouraged the EU countries to include new areas of these guidelines. Another goal was the introduction of starter and KOOP projects (cooperation measures), which on the one hand should support the preparation of future projects and improve the exchange of experiences between the projects

In 2004, the EU made an additional budget of 317 million available and the funding was thus extended until 2006.

The EU drew a very positive conclusion from the previous LIFE work. From 1992 to 2006, 2,750 projects in 40 countries and overseas territories were funded with a volume of 1.3 billion euros. LIFE took over 38% of the total costs of all projects and was able to initiate further environmental investments in the EU and the neighboring countries.

Restructuring and LIFE +

Restructuring was necessary before the next funding phase. So far, the sub-areas of nature, the environment and third countries had very different procedures and approval processes. Financial supervision and financial management also became increasingly important. For this reason, the categories nature, environment and third countries were first brought together under one heading. Afterwards, Natura 2000 was separated from the LIFE-Nature area and became an independent program. The result was initially a complication of the application and project processing. This is how LIFE + was born. The plus sign stands for pomouvoir l'union soutenable (promotion of a feasible unit) and thus for the simplification of the application. The duration of LIFE + was set from 2007 to 2013. The tasks of LIFE + include climate change, nature and biodiversity, health and quality of life and the management of natural resources and waste. In the EC Regulation No. 614/2007, published on June 9, 2007, the following priorities were defined:

  • Nature and biological diversity (Natura 2000) (50-75% funding for individual projects)
  • Environmental policy and administrative practice (up to 50% funding for individual projects)
  • Information and communication (up to 50% funding for individual projects)

In 2008, national priorities were set for the allocation of funding, i. H. the projects of these countries will be preferred if they comply with the guidelines. These preferred countries are Estonia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. The submission of applications within the countries started on May 4th and ends on September 1st, 2010. The applications of the individual EU states must then be submitted by October 4th, 2010. The first projects should start in September 2011.

Anniversary and award ceremony 2012

The winners of the EU LIFE Environment program 2012 in Brussels

On May 23, 2012, the EU LIFE program celebrated its 20th anniversary in Brussels with more than 300 LIFE 20th anniversaries - organized by LIFE projects from the past or present.

At the same time, the thirteen best European LIFE-Nature projects were awarded, four of which were given the title Best of the Best , but without a ranking. Three of the four projects are carried out with German participation.

  • The award went to the Danish project “Regain”, which aims to renaturalize the Odense River and the Odense Fjord.
  • Also the German-Danish-Swedish-Latvian Bombina project , which aims to improve and secure the habitat for the fire-bellied toad in the Baltic region. The aim of the LIFE Bombina project is to improve the habitat for the fire-bellied toad in several European countries. The red-bellied toad population is to be permanently secured. In Germany, the red-bellied toad occurs only north of the low mountain range. Schleswig-Holstein therefore has a special responsibility for the lowland species that is protected throughout Europe. This transnational project increased the population of the fire-bellied toad in a region where it was extremely threatened. The winners of the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation, together with the project partners, create new habitats for the target species and an intensive genetic analysis is carried out to preserve the gene pool.
  • In addition, the program “Salt Pits Brandenburg” for the maintenance and development of inland salt pits and salt marshes in Brandenburg was honored. The EU-LIFE project " Inland salt stations in Brandenburg" has set itself the goal of improving or restoring the conditions for the existence of salt meadows and pastures in several areas in the state of Brandenburg.
  • For the second time after 2009, the German-French-Dutch " Allis shad project for the reintroduction of allis shad in the Rhine" was awarded. The fish species that were once common in the Rhine and Main have been considered extinct since the beginning of the 20th century. Due to water pollution, the construction of impassable barrages and overfishing , this species of fish disappeared from rivers all over Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. As part of the allis shad project, around 7 million small allis shad were released in the Rhine in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia between 2007 and 2010. The young allis shad for the project come from the Garonne and Dordogne rivers in Aquitaine . The largest stock of allis shad that still remains in Europe lives there. Allis shad migrate into the sea in the course of their development and return to spawning in the rivers in which they themselves grew up. Depending on the spawning behavior of the French allis shad, an official opening ceremony for allis shad stocking in the Rhine is planned again in 2013. A location was selected as the venue where allis shad were caught and sold in the historic fishing village of Cologne-Poll until 1938 . In 2010 the first European allis shad information board was set up in Cologne-Poll as part of the EU-LIFE project on the Rhine.

swell

  • Homepage of the EU on LIFE (English)
  • Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
  • Naturschutz-Info 3/2007 and 1/2008, magazine Fachdienst Naturschutz of the State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg (LUBW)
  • EU homepage on LIFE + (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Declaration by the Commission on Regulation (EC) No. 614/2007 of 23 May 2007 on the LIFE + financial instrument.
  2. ↑ 20 years of LIFE celebrated at awards ceremony during Green Week. News: May 2012, EU LIFE Project ( Memento from November 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ EU-LIFE project at River Odense and Odense Fjord - REGAIN. Nature Agency of the Danish Ministry of the Environment (English).
  4. ^ Bombina project. Project flyer, EU LIFE Project (PDF).
  5. ^ Inland salt mines in Brandenburg. Project at the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment .
  6. ^ Alosa-Alosa project. State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia .
  7. ↑ Poller Maigeloog project website.

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