What will happen to the LIFE Programme under the EU’s new Multiannual Financial Framework?

The LIFE Programme – the EU’s main financial instrument for the environment and climate action – faces a major structural change from 2028. Under the European Commission’s proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034), LIFE would no longer operate as an independent programme but would instead be integrated into the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). This reform is part of a broader effort to streamline and group EU financial instruments within a common framework focused on competitiveness, sustainability and the green and industrial transition.

If the proposal passes through the European Parliament and the Council in the coming months, the ECF would eventually bring together activities currently managed under 14 different EU programmes, including LIFE, Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and InvestEU. The goal is to make the EU budget more flexible, efficient and strategically coherent. To this end, the new fund would combine the Union’s various financial tools – grants, loans, guarantees, equity instruments, tenders and blended mechanisms – under a single umbrella.

Does LIFE disappear or merely change its structure?

The proposed change has caused concern among many stakeholders in the innovation and sustainability ecosystem, who regard LIFE as a programme with a distinct identity, recognised for its hands-on approach and its role in financing demonstrative projects in environmental and climate fields. The disappearance of LIFE as an independent programme has been interpreted by some as a full phase-out. However, the European Commission’s intention is an administrative and budgetary restructuring, not the elimination of its areas of activity.

In the proposed architecture of the Competitiveness Fund, some LIFE activities would fall under Policy Window 1, focused on supporting the clean transition and industrial decarbonisation. These actions would therefore continue to provide bottom-up support for demonstration, testing and market uptake of innovative solutions and good practices in clean transition, industrial decarbonisation and climate and environmental awareness across all levels of governance.

Where will LIFE’s Nature and Biodiversity Programme be placed?

Brussels’ proposal also refers to areas such as circular economy, water efficiency, ocean health, and air, water and soil quality, as well as the protection and restoration of biodiversity. These topics currently belong to different components within LIFE: while issues linked to circular economy and resource management are covered by the Environment sub-programme, those focused on habitat and species conservation fall under Nature and Biodiversity.

Although it appears that the first set of actions will be integrated into the future European Competitiveness Fund, the final destination of the latter remains unclear. Its activities could be divided between Policy Window 1 (Clean Transition and Decarbonisation) and Policy Window 2 (Health and Biodiversity). One of the options under consideration is their potential inclusion in the new National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), another instrument envisaged within the forthcoming financial framework.

What funding conditions will apply to LIFE activities?

The Commission’s proposal also includes relevant technical provisions, such as the possibility of applying a flat rate of up to 25% on eligible direct costs to cover beneficiaries’ indirect costs – a measure applicable both to coordination and support actions in energy efficiency and to activities related to LIFE. At present, this rate stands at 7%.

How is the LIFE community responding to the proposed segmentation?

The new structure would take effect from 1 January 2028, the date on which Regulation (EU) 2021/783, which currently establishes the LIFE Programme, would be repealed. Projects approved under earlier calls, however, would continue to be governed by the rules in force at the time of their award, ensuring administrative continuity for ongoing actions.

Several organisations and regional cooperation networks have already submitted formal requests urging the European Commission to reconsider aspects of this integration. For instance, the Representation Office of the Liguria Region (Italy) in Brussels has circulated a letter among LIFE project partners expressing concern about the potential fragmentation of the programme and calling for its visibility and operational autonomy to be preserved within the new financial framework.

What are the next steps in the legislative process?

In this evolving context, the role of specialised advisory teams is becoming increasingly important. “Zabala Innovation, with a long-standing track record in the preparation, management and evaluation of LIFE projects across all its areas – environment, climate, governance and nature – is already assisting public and private entities in interpreting the Commission’s proposal and identifying future funding opportunities,” explains Igor Idareta, team leader at the consultancy and expert in European sustainability programmes.

The legislative process will continue in the coming months as the European Parliament and the Council debate the proposed text. During this phase, the governance mechanisms of the ECF and the final positioning of the LIFE component within it will be more precisely defined. Until then, “organisations interested in environment, energy and climate projects should closely monitor the regulatory developments and plan their funding strategies with a view to the transition towards the new 2028-2034 framework,” concludes Idareta.