A call of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) for the co-financing of LIFE projects is open. In addition, we prepared a short explanation of the allocation system, as we have been receiving more and more questions on this topic lately.
The 2017 Call of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning for co-financing LIFE projects
On July 14, 2017, the Official Gazette published a Public Call for the decision to co-finance projects from the LIFE programme for 2017; the news on the announcement was published on 17.7.2017 on the MESP’s web page. The MESP will allocate funds to the beneficiaries based on the decision of the European Commission to co-finance the submitted project proposals. All legal entities that are listed as beneficiaries in the European Commission’s Call are entitled to apply for the MESP’s call for co-financing.
This year, the MESP will provide national co-financing of LIFE projects from all priority areas in the following amounts:
- up to 10 % for projects from priority area Environment and Resource Efficiency,
- up to 20 % for projects from priority area Environmental Governance and Information,
- up to 30 % for projects from priority area Nature and Biodiversity,
- up to 20 % for projects from sub-programme for Climate Action.
More detailed description of the co-financed priorities and the percentage of co-financing are available in the MESP’s Call (link to Official Gazette)
The beneficiaries must submit to the MESP complete adequately filled project proposals which must not differ in the essential elements from the project proposals to be submitted for co-financing from the LIFE programme for 2017 in accordance with the European Commission’s call. Project proposals should address the topics set out in the Commission’s call. Beneficiaries applying for a national co-financing must submit project proposals in writing or electronically on CD / DVD media at the address Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Dunajska 48, 1000 Ljubljana, with the notation on the envelope “ne odpiraj – za razpis 17 Call«. Project proposals must be delivered to the MESP’s Main Administration Office no later than 8.8.2017 until 12 a.m.
Applicants will be informed in writing of the allocation of national funds by August 31, 2017 at the latest.
We wish you good quality projects and success in the Call!
LIFE Team
National Allocations
Under the LIFE programme, projects are funded from two parts, from the so-called “national allocations” and “joint fund“. National allocations are funds that are “reserved” for financing projects in each member state, but if they are not used, they are transferred to the “joint fund”. The funds in the joint fund are intended for financing projects that have achieved sufficient score for obtaining LIFE grant, but there are no funds available within the framework of national allocations. It does not matter, from which member state is the project.
With the approved projects from the LIFE 2016 Call, Slovenia has already used the national allocation for the period 2014-2017. But this does not mean that Slovenian LIFE project proposals will be automatically rejected this year. With LIFE 2016 Call, Slovenia surpassed the national allocation budget, but some projects will still be co-financed. The quality of the project proposal is still the first criterion for successful application, which Slovenian projects have already exhibited in the past.
A project proposal with at least one beneficiary (coordinating or associated) from a member state with available national allocation will be allocated the allocation under the national allocation of that member state.
What does this mean for Slovenian applicants? This year we recommend that LIFE project applicants consider the possibility of establishing partnership with organisations from member states with available national allocations. This will increase the chance of success if more project proposals are submitted on the same topic from member states without available national allocations and are of similar quality. However, the main criteria for selecting partners are the necessity for their participation in the implementation of the project, competences, reliability and financial stability. We would like to emphasize once again that the quality of the application is still the most important criterion for a successful project and international partners are not absolutely necessary.
Member states that have already used national allocations are: Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain.
