LIFE is the European Commission’s financial instrument supporting environment and nature conservation projects throughout the EU.
Current position
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union on the 31st January 2020, the LIFE National Contact Point at JNCC will no longer be operating from April 2021.
UK organisations are not eligible to lead a bid for EU LIFE funding from the 2021 call onwards. Information on the EU LIFE Programme is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life.
Please note the following information regarding ongoing LIFE projects, and applications being considered in the 2020 LIFE call.
The Withdrawal Agreement stated that the UK would continue to participate in EU annual budgets up to and including 2020. This meant that the UK continued to make its contribution and receive receipts from EU budget programmes under the normal rules. All EU projects and programmes, including LIFE, will be financed as foreseen under the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This included UK organisations' participation in the 2020 LIFE call, even though the timetable for the 2020 call stretches into 2021.
This provides certainty to all beneficiaries of EU programmes, including UK beneficiaries, who will continue to benefit from EU programmes until their closure (i.e. continue to claim receipts for projects funded by the 2014-2020 MFF until programme closure, for many programmes this means funding will continue into 2021 and beyond).
The Government is now considering the strategic funding priorities for environment projects, in the context of the next Spending Review.
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