Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Final evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 614/2007 concerning the financial instrument for the environment (LIFE+)

The LIFE Programme is the EU's only financial instrument having as its sole focus the implementation of Union policy and legislation for the environment. It was launched in 1992 and is now in its fourth programming period under the LIFE+ Regulation (EC) No 614/2007. This Regulation covers the period 2007-2013 and foresees a financial envelope of €2.17 billion.

Three types of interventions are possible under LIFE+:
- Action grants, representing 78% of the budget. Grants are awarded in three programme strands: Nature & Biodiversity, Environment Policy & Governance, and Information & Communication;
- Operating grants for NGOs, representing 3% of the budget;
- Public procurement contracts for service provision, representing 19% of the budget.

The Commission prepared a mid-term review, submitted to the European Parliament and the LIFE+ Committee in September 2010, and a proposal for a successor Programme to LIFE+, submitted to the European Parliament and the Council in December 2011. In December 2012, the Commission published the outcome of a study with conclusions and recommendations on the LIFE+ programme and its implementation.

The evidence and opinions collected and analysed in the final evaluation demonstrated that there have not been any major changes in the nature and implementation of the LIFE+ Programme or in the quality of its results since the mid-term evaluation of 2010. Thus the conclusions of the mid-term evaluation are still generally valid. However, the final evaluation presents evidence of continued improvements in Programme implementation since the previous evaluations.

This Communication presents the observed achievements, as well as the remaining challenges and weaknesses in the LIFE Programme. The Commission's proposal for a successor instrument for 2014-20 already seeks to address the identified challenges and weaknesses.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)478: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:478:FIN

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