Report under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1404/96 - LIFE
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES mm &m Brussels, 04. 12. 1998 COM( 1998) 721 final Report under Article 14 of iWP Regulation (EC) No 1404/96 Life (presented by the Commission) « * •• TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Presentation of LIFE 1. 2 The context of this report 2. ACTIONS FINANCED BY LIFE FROM 1992 TO 1995 2. 2. Life-Nature: 2. 3. Life -Environment 2. 4. Life-Third countries 3. FRAMEWORK OF THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF LIFE 4. MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION 4. 1. Contribution to the development and implementation of Community environmental policy and legislation 4. 2. Life's added value in relation to other financial or environmental- policy instruments 4. 3. Means and procedures for implementing Life 4. 4. Recommendations of the external assessors 5. THE COMMISSION'S ANALYSIS AND PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE 5. 1. General objective of Life 5. 2. Forging closer links between Life and Community environmental policy 5. 3. Dissemination of results in line with their potential 5. 4. The role of Life in relation to non-EU and Central and Eastern European countries 6. DURATION AND REFERENCE AMOUNT OF THE THIRD PHASE 7. CONCLUSION ANNEX 1 Life - Nature ANNEX 2 Zz/e-Environment ANNEX 3 LIFE- Third countries 3 3 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 9 9 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 13 15 19 26 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Presentation of LIFE 1. 1. 1. The financial instrument for the environment, Life, was set up by Council Regulation EEC No 1973/92, as amended by Council Regulation EC No 1404/96 of 15 July 1996. 1. 1. 2. The general objective of Life is to contribute to the implementation of if appropriate, development and, Community environment policy and legislation (Article 1 of the Life Regulation) by co-financing specific actions in the three eligible areas of activity. 1. 1. 3. The areas of activity eligible for financial support from Life are: * * * nature conservation actions (/. //^-Nature) demonstration actions involving industry and local communities (L//<?-Environment) co-operation actions with third countries bordering the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, other than the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which have signed association agreements with the European Union {Life-Third countries). the Mediterranean 1. 1. 4. When it was set up in 1992, Life took over ACNAT, MEDSPA and NORSPA, which financed projects in the fields of nature conservation, the environment of the Atlantic and North Sea coasts respectively. Life provided a coherent, stable and better funded framework for these environmental activities. The Annex to the Life Regulation contained a list of priorities, which change in practice from one year to another. environment, and 1. 1. 5. The main change introduced in 1996 by the second Life Regulation was the suppression of these priorities, the eligible fields of action being valid for the duration of Life II (1996- 1999), and the definition of evaluation criteria for selecting actions to be financed. The Life II Regulation also made provision for preparatory actions under ^//^-Environment, preparing structural actions, and for nature conservation and demonstration actions under Life-Third countries, alongside the technical assistance actions. 1. 1. 6. Since 1996, Life has been open to participation by associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as a pre-accession exercise, in accordance with the requirements of the additional protocols to the association agreements. These countries can therefore participate in Life-Nature and Zz/ê-Environment on terms close to those of Member States, but may no longer benefit under Life-Third countries. No project has yet been selected in this framework. 1. 1. 7. Projects to be funded by Life are selected on the basis of their merits and their contribution to the objectives of Community environment policy, using the evaluation criteria set out in the Regulation. The evaluation procedure the characteristics of each eligible area of activity. is adapted to For Life-Nature the Commission, with the help of outside scientific consultants, makes an initial selection of applications which are formally acceptable and eligible according to the criteria in the Regulation. It then puts forward a list of the best projects at Community level for approval by the Habitat Committee. For /. (/^-Environment, a parallel evaluation procedure is conducted in the Member States and by the Commission, leading to the selection of a short-list representing around a third of projects submitted. The shortlisted projects are then examined by panels of independent experts. On the basis of this three-stage evaluation, the Commission submits a list of projects to be funded for approval by the Life Management Committee. For Life-Third countries, the evaluation procedure begins with an initial selection by the Commission. It then proposes a list of projects to be assessed by independent experts. On the basis of this two-stage evaluation, the Commission submits a list of projects to be funded for approval by the Life Management Committee. 1. 1. 8. Since 1992, Life has received 8 502 proposals for projects of which almost one third were eligible. 1 275 projects were jointly funded at a total cost of ECU 643 million. Some 900 projects are in progress. 1. 1. 9. The following table gives a breakdown of appropriations used to co-finance projects in the three areas of activity (amounts in million ECU). Life I Life 11 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 (EU-12) (EU-12) (EU-12) (EU-15) (EU-15) (EU-15) (EU-15) 36. 9 20,6 43 48. 5 43. 4 42. 4 48 44. 6 44. 7 53. 1 48. 1 43. 3 43. 6 48. 6 5. 3 3. 5 4. 8 5. 7 6. 0 4. 2 4. 7 LIFE-Nature (in 1992, with ACNAT) £,/F£'-Environment (in 1992, with MEDSPA and NORSPA) LIFE-Third countries (in 1992, with MEDSPA and NORSPA) Total 86. 8 68. 8 100. 9 102. 3 92. 7 90. 2 101. 3 The Annex gives detailed data for each area of activity. 1. 2 The context of this report 1. 2. 1. This report has been prepared within the context of both the Life Regulation and the "Sound and Efficient Management" initiative (SEM 2000). 1. 2. 2. SEM 2000 states that the implications of political decisions in terms of resources must be known at the time these decisions are taken. To that end, it recommends a systematic evaluation of all programmes entailing expenditure of Community funds. 1. 2. 3. The Life Regulation includes two articles concerning resources, namely Articles 7(3) and Article 14. Article 7(3) asks the Council to examine the reference amount, on the basis of a Commission report, with a view to revising it if necessary. The Commission's report under Article 7(3) was sent to the Council in December 1997, reporting on the implementation of the Regulation and outlining the following stages of the evaluation of Life. It concluded that Life could make good use of resources up to and even beyond the current reference amount of ECU 450 million for the period 1996-99. However the Commission considered that the budgetary outlook would restrict the Life budget to less than the reference amount. 1. 2. 4. Article 14 stipulates that: '"No later than 31 December 1998, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of this Regulation and on the use of appropriations and shall make proposals for any adjustment to be made with a view to continuing the action beyond the second phase. " 1. 2. 5. This report was written in application of Article 14. It is based on a detailed evaluation commissioned from outside experts who submitted their report in June 1998. The objective of this evaluation was to assess performance in implementing the scheme and its efficiency in attaining its objectives, while assessing their relevance and whether the ideas behind the scheme remain valid. This report presents the main conclusions and the Commission's analysis of the experts' report, and the changes proposed for stage three of Life. 2. ACTIONS FINANCED BY LIFE FROM 1992 TO 1995 2. 1. Before considering the evaluation of Life, we need to describe the projects it funds and the results it has achieved, to serve as a basis for the evaluation of the instrument as a whole. 2. 2. Life-Nature: During the first phase (1992-95) Life-Nature co-financed many projects in Special Protection Areas for birds as well as national natural heritage inventories in several Member States in order to prepare the implementation of Natura 2000. The latter type of project no longer has priority under Z,//ê-Nature II. During the second phase (1996-98), Life-Nature gave priority to site protection projects, especially those proposed and in progress under the Habitats Directive (NA1). The breakdown by topic of projects funded by Z,//è-Nature II has evolved over time as follows: nN A3 BN A2 m N A1 1 9 96 1 9 97 1 9 98 (NA1 = projects concerning Habitat Directive sites; NA2 = projects concerning Birds (NA1 = projects concerning Habitat Directive sites; NA2 = projects concerning Birds (NA1 = projects concerning Habitat Directive sites; NA2 = projects concerning Birds Directive sites; NA3= projects concerning species non specifically related to sites) Directive sites; NA3= projects concerning species non specifically related to sites) Directive sites; NA3= projects concerning species non specifically related to sites) Annex 1 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. Annex 1 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. Annex 1 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. 2. 3. 2. 3. 2. 3. Life - Environment Life - Environment Life - Environment The breakdown by topic of the projects financed under Z//ê-Environment The breakdown by topic of the projects financed under Z//ê-Environment The breakdown by topic of the projects financed under Z//ê-Environment between 1992 and 1997 reveals that the most common topic is "clean between 1992 and 1997 reveals that the most common topic is "clean between 1992 and 1997 reveals that the most common topic is "clean technologies" modifying industrial production processes, (accounting technologies" modifying industrial production processes, (accounting technologies" modifying industrial production processes, (accounting for 23% of budget expenditure), and lesser degree water for 23% of budget expenditure), and lesser degree water for 23% of budget expenditure), and lesser degree water management, regional planning in rural areas and in urban areas, and management, regional planning in rural areas and in urban areas, and management, regional planning in rural areas and in urban areas, and waste management (14-17%). waste management (14-17%). waste management (14-17%). to a to a to a Annex 2 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. Annex 2 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. Annex 2 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. 2. 4. 2. 4. 2. 4. Life-Third countries Life-Third countries Life-Third countries During the first phase of Life (1992-95), the only actions eligible under During the first phase of Life (1992-95), the only actions eligible under During the first phase of Life (1992-95), the only actions eligible under Life-Third countries were technical assistance ones. Since 1996, the Life-Third countries were technical assistance ones. Since 1996, the Life-Third countries were technical assistance ones. Since 1996, the eligibility criteria have been extended to include nature protection and eligibility criteria have been extended to include nature protection and eligibility criteria have been extended to include nature protection and demonstration actions. demonstration actions. demonstration actions. Technical assistance actions are the most common requests for co- Technical assistance actions are the most common requests for co- Technical assistance actions are the most common requests for co- financing, accounting for 50 to 70%. The reason is that Life-Third financing, accounting for 50 to 70%. The reason is that Life-Third financing, accounting for 50 to 70%. The reason is that Life-Third countries is mainly intended for national administrations who need to countries is mainly intended for national administrations who need to countries is mainly intended for national administrations who need to define their environmental policies and action plans. define their environmental policies and action plans. define their environmental policies and action plans. Nature protection projects generally relate to the conservation and/or rehabilitation of habitats in coastal areas and wetlands. Demonstration actions, co-financed for the first time in 1997, concern many fields, such as waste management and treatment, the use of bicycles in cities and management of coastal zones. Annex 3 gives a detailed analysis of these topics and the results obtained. 3. FRAMEWORK OF THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF LIFE 3. 1. The external experts' evaluation from December 1997 to June 1998 had to answer the main following questions, in order to serve as a basis for the drafting of this report: • Does Life contribute to the development and implementation of Community environmental policy and legislation, and if so and how? • Does Life have a knock-on effect on other Community policies or instruments? • Did the project selection procedure make it possible to choose projects matching the criteria laid down in the Regulation? • Were the available financial resources used appropriately or should the conditions for allocating them be changed? • What is the medium- and long-term potential of Life? 3. 2. The external assessors followed the methodology proposed by the Commission under SEM 2000. After examining the logic of intervention under Life, experts selected a sample of 100 projects according to the quotas method; the sample was representative of projects financed under Life II as well as projects financed under Life I conforming to the Life II intervention logic. Experts met 23 project managers (from the 100 selected projects), some competent national authorities, the consultancy teams responsible for monitoring Life projects, in charge of Life and other Commission staff working on subjects covered by Life. the units 3. 3. The methodology followed considers Life as a whole, without necessarily taking account of the different approaches in the three areas of Life. This is in line with the Commission's evaluation recommendations, but introduces a device in the case of Life, which has to take account of the differences in approach, objectives and beneficiaries between Life-Nature, Z//ê-Environment and Life-Third countries. 4. MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EXTERNAL EVALUATION 4. 1. Contribution to the development and implementation of Community environmental policy and legislation After examining the implementation of the instrument's general objective set out in Article 1 of the Regulation, the external experts conclude that implementation of Community Life can contribute environmental policy and legislation, but its contribution to the development of policy and legislation is very limited. the to Life's general objective appears to them far too broad to be achieved and not always consistent with the specific objectives of the three areas of activity, which refer only to the implementation of Community policy and legislation. The objective of developing policy could only be achieved by a "bottom- up" approach, implying better use of the results of individual actions by political decision-makers at European level. On the other hand, with regard to policy implementation, Life's strong implementation of points are its participatory approach, effective environmental legislation and the management of natural resources. Life contributes to a lesser extent to improving the quality of the environment: this contribution is significant for the quality of water and landscape, more limited for the urban environment, and flora and fauna, and negligible for soil quality. 4. 2. Life's added value in relation to other financial or environmental- policy instruments is not the only Community financial Life instrument addressing environmental issues. Others include the agro-environmental measures of the Common Agricultural Policy, the Structural and Cohesion Funds, research & development programmes, and the Union's external policy instruments. In comparison with these instruments, Life has several strong assets: • Life is the only instrument dedicated solely to the environment. It offers flexibility and presents less constraints than other Community instruments. • Life is managed directly by the Commission and so has great potential for providing European decision-makers with field results. • Life is a political instrument, which is a critical asset for the environmental actors who often still lack political influence. A detailed analysis of Life in comparison with other Community instruments shows that in most cases, Life can have a complementary role. However, while Life has the potential to develop real added value, it has not yet realised this potential. It is still an "unfinished symphony". 4. 3. Means and procedures for implementing Life The external assessors consider that better focusing of financial resources would do much to improve the instrument's overall effectiveness. They consider that the main areas for improvement are management of land acquisitions for Life-Nature, dissemination and transfer of project results for Zz/ê-Environment, and focusing on fewer priorities for Life-Third countries. Human resources within the Commission often appear to be too scarce, and organisational limitations are impeding the development of Life. There is currently too much emphasis on projects and not enough on the dissemination of project results; the budget allocated to communication actions (3% of appropriations) also seems too low to be effective. Selected projects are usually representative of proposers' priority problems, and to some extent the priorities of the national authorities taking part in the pre-selection of projects. On the other hand insufficient account the various Community environmental policies. When selecting projects, the Commission should systematically anticipate the possible re-use of results of projects in Community policies, the dissemination of those results and their long- term effects. the priorities of taken of is 4. 4. Recommendations of the external assessors • Life should adopt a pro-active approach to preparing environmental policy, programmes and legislation; • Life should set up a knowledge management system and make full use of the information accumulated since it began; • Life should clearly identify whether it has a role to play with third countries and Central and Eastern European Countries; • Life should reinforce the political strength of public environmental stakeholders;. 10 • Life should remain independent of economic and geographical constraints. 5. T HE COMMISSION'S ANALYSIS AND PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE 5. 1. General objective of Life The objectives of developing implementing Community environmental policy and legislation are not separable in the financing of projects. Individual projects selected by Life should contribute to both: and • implementation, by applying Community policies in an exemplary way , the legislation and objectives of • development of new policies or updating of existing policies, by facilitating feedback to decision-makers. It is proposed to reformulate Article 1 of the Life Regulation so as to define the development objective more clearly. 5. 2. Forging closer links between Life and Community environmental policy The Commission agrees with the external experts' suggestion that closer links should be forged between Life and the Community environmental policy. This is particularly true of /. //^-Environment, where it is proposed to reformulate the eligible fields in the Regulation and lay down guidelines for demonstration projects, with a view to directing proposers towards priority themes of Community policy. This proposal is in line with an amendment introduced by the European Parliament during the discussion of the Life II Regulation in 1996. Similarly, "preparatory actions" under Life-Environment are redefined as preparing for the development of new Community environmental policy and will be collected by direct calls for expression of interest, in order to gather a homogeneous set of projects in support of a policy in preparation. 5. 3. Dissemination of results in line with their potential The external experts' assessment regarding the dissemination of project results underestimates beneficiaries' and the Commission's dissemination activities (Internet site including a database of projects funded, Natura letter linking to Life-Nature, anthology of Life- 2000 information Environment success stories). Moreover, the Life Management committee adopted a dissemination strategy for Life -Environment in April 1997. The Commission nevertheless agrees on the need to step up the dissemination of results in order to realise the full potential of the funded 11 projects. To that end, it is proposed to increase the budget allocation to accompanying measures from 3 to 5% of Life appropriations. For Life-Nature, this increase will pay for two new accompanying measures: the "starter" measure will help to prepare multinational projects, "co-op" measure will encourage the networking of the funded projects. For Z//ê-Environment, the increase will be used to develop the exploitation of project results on the basis of topic, for example by industrial sector in the case of clean technologies. 5. 4. The role of Life in relation to non-EU and Central and Eastern European countries These groups of countries should be considered separately: • Participation in Life by the Central and Eastern European Countries applying follows a general for EU membership Commission strategy which remains valid; participation will become effective following the specific decisions of the association Councils. • For the other non-EU countries bordering the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, the Commission agrees on the need to concentrate the efforts of Life-Third countries and proposes to focus on technical assistance actions (institutional and capacity building) which step up the Union's neighbours' power to act on environmental issues. 6. DURATION AND REFERENCE AMOUNT OF THE THIRD PHASE The Commission favours a duration of five years for the third phase of Life, and allowing for an updating of the eligible fields of action. In the report to the Council under Article 7(3), the Commission showed that Life has considerable growth potential, since the instrument receives twice as many valid project proposals, i. e. which are formally eligible and favourably evaluated, than it can actually fund. The budgetary record of Life is very satisfactory. All commitment appropriations are regularly used for Life-Nature, L//^-Environment and Life-Third countries. Use of payment appropriations, in 1997 for example, was 86% for Life-Nature, 100% for L//^-Environment and 79% for Life-Third countries. 12 Life also satisfies the criteria laid down under Agenda 2000 for defining priority programmes, where growth may exceed the Community budget; Life takes part in particular in "implementing environment-friendly technologies" and contributes indirectly to job creation by financing activities with a high job-creation potential, such as waste recycling and new services connected with the environment. Nevertheless, with current budgetary prospects the five-year budget is unlikely to exceed ECU 613 million, broken down as follows, without taking account of the costs of enlargement: Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Nature 52. 65 54. 5 57. 80 59. 70 63. 45 Environment 52. 65 54. 5 57. 80 59J0 63. 45 Third countries 6. 7 7. 0 7. 4 7. 6 8. 1 CEECs p. m. p. m. p. m. p. m. Life 112 116 123 127 p. m. 135 (All amounts are in million ECU) 7. CONCLUSION When preparing the third phase of Life, the Commission carried out a comprehensive assessment exercise consisting of the following stages: the report under Article 7(3) of the Life Regulation, transmitted to the Council in December 1997, the evaluation by outside experts between December 1997 and June 1998, and finally this report to the European Parliament and Council under Article 14 of the Life Regulation. As we complete this evaluation, we can reaffirm the importance of Life for Community environmental policy and its positive contribution to the goals of this policy. As the only Community instrument specifically dedicated to the environment, it has a unique position among Community financing instruments, relying working on innovatory and exemplary local initiatives to foster the implementation of Community policy and develop new activities. Thanks to Life-Nature, thousands of hectares of natural habitats of European interest are now protected; species only recently endangered are now safe; the European Natura 2000 network is gradually taking shape. The introduction of new accompanying measures during the third phase of Life will encourage the emergence of multinational projects and the networking of ongoing ones. 13 Under Li/<?-Environment, dozens of clean technologies have proved their effectiveness in the most polluting industries; new techniques and methods have emerged to improve water quality or recycle waste; new partnerships are trying out more ecological regional planning methods. For the third phase, guidelines will be defined to improve the synergy between demonstration actions and Community policy, while better dissemination of project results will enable us to exploit theif full potential. Thanks to Life-Third countries, the principles of Community environmental policy are now known to our Baltic and Mediterranean neighbours and inspire the drafting of their own environmental policies or protection activities. For the third phase of Life, focusing funding on institutional and capacity building will give the best return on the Life-Third countries budget. The involvement of the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in Life should grow in the coming years, and Life's contribution to the European environment will take on a new dimension when they actually join the Union. Day after day and project after project, concrete examples show that sustainable development can become reality. These examples thus contribute to the objectives that the European Union pursues through legislation, integration of the environment into other policies, promotion of voluntary approaches, etc. Life's aim is to bridge the gap between such exemplary individual projects and Community policy, to link real examples of innovation with European integration. It is this aim in the service of the environment that the Commission proposes to pursue from 2000 to 2004. 14 ANNEX 1 LIFE - NATURE 1. NUMBER OF CO-FINANCED PROJECTS The number and quality of projects submitted under Life-Nature changed between 1992 and 1998. • Under Life I, many projects included actions per phase and involved several to these projects was close for beneficiaries. Average co-financing ECU 1 million. • In 1995 the Commission revised the application brochure. Each project is now under the responsibility of only one beneficiary. The Commission no longer commits itself in advance to co-financing following phases. It prefers projects whose actions are clearly linked to attainable objectives. All projects are divided into 6 categories: - Preparing management plans/preparatory projects - Land and land-use control - One-off habitat management projects - Ongoing habitat management projects - Awareness-raising/dissemination of results - Project management In the short term this requirement for more accuracy increased the number of ineligible projects. But as from 1997, the average quality of the projects received has significantly improved. • The Life II Regulation adopted in 1996 reinforced the link with Natura 2000. More projects were then declared ineligible because Member States had not proposed the sites in time. Potential applicants also preferred to postpone their project until the sites had been included in the national lists of sites proposed under the Habitats Directive. • 1998 has seen an increase in the number and the quality of projects. Average co-financing per project is between ECU 500 000 and 1 000 000. The table below gives a year-by-year breakdown. 15 LIFE I LIFE II 92' 93 94 95 96 97 98 (EUR 12) (EUR 12) (EUR 12) (EUR 15) (EUR 15) (EUR 15) (EUR 15) 86 198 296 313 241 174 191 227 294 270 235 174 128 136 _2 1 80 116 139 123 97 115 1863 153 139 93 76 83 35 22 36. 9 20,6 47 43 72 63 60 48. 5 43. 4 42. 4 85 48 Number of projects received ' Contribution requested Number of eligible projects Contribution requested for eligible projects Number of projects funded Financial contribution granted The 1992 budget for Z//£-Nature includes reports from ACNAT; 2 not available; 3 including ECU 61 million for one single project. (Amounts are in million ecus and account only for the Community contribution, generally between 50 and 75% of the total cost) 2. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PROJECTS Life-Nature has no provision for sharing out the amount available between the Member States according to fixed criteria. Rather, the Commission considers that the quality of each project, compared with other projects proposed in the same year, should be the only basis for the decision on co-financing. A Member State may send several very good proposals one year and few the next. It therefore makes little sense to analyse the annual allocation of funds per Member State. However, it is interesting to analyse figures for the whole of the 1992-98 period. It shows that: - Member States with large territories are the main beneficiaries (including Finland and Sweden as from 1995); - when areas are comparable, countries with higher bio-diversity, mainly in the Mediterranean and the Alps, benefited from more funding. These criteria tie in with the purpose of Life, and explains why Spain is the main beneficiary of Life-Nature. The table below shows the distribution between Member States of contributions of Z,z/e-Nature between 1992 and 1998. 16 Member State Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland Itaty Luxembourg Netherlands Austria * Portugal Finland * Sweden * United Kingdom LIFE-Nature (92-98) ECU '000 000 6. 9 3. 5 30. 2 18^9 54~7 32. 2 83 2^6 0. 2 6. 6 11. 9 1677 fO i~8l> 18. 2 (* as from 1995) 3. TYPES OF PROJECTS CO-FINANCED Life -Nature co-finances projects to protect natural sites and species of interest under the Birds and Habitats Directives, so the types of projects co-financed have changed between 1992 and 1998 as these two directives have been implemented. • Bird protection projects: these accounted for most of the projects funded under Life-Nature I (1992-1995). The aim is to protect, and therefore manage, important sites for the birds listed in Annex 1 to the Birds Directive. Measures include for example: - Restoring habitat: cleaning up areas of water, improving water systems - Managing habitat: annual clearing of ditches and undergrowth - Implementing a management plan: changing farming practices, controlling tourism - Renting or purchasing key land in order to protect the biological quality of a site. 17 Many of these projects concerned wetlands. The Commission thus contributed to the objectives of the Ramsar Convention to protect wetlands of international importance. • Protection of natural habitats: these projects accounted for most of those funded under Life-Nature II. As from 1996-1997, Member States have proposed thousands of sites containing natural habitats quoted in Annex 1 to the Habitat Directive, so Life-Nature logically gives those priority. As with the protection of birds, these projects combine measures to safeguard the future of these sites: land control, improving the biological state of habitat, and regular biotope management. The preparation of a management plan, involving the various site users (municipalities, farmers, hunters, forest managers, etc. ), improves the prospects of long-term success. The cooperation later to implement agri- initiated under Life often makes it possible environmental measures, funded by the CAP, or infrastructure for sustainable tourism, paid for by the Structural Funds. • Protection of species of fauna and flora: the Union has chosen to focus its policy on sites necessary for the survival of endangered flora and fauna. Life- Nature thus co-finances as a matter of priority site-related actions. But specific actions may be necessary, for example to study the reproduction or movements of a species or to prepare its reintroduction, although actions which do not relate to sites proposed for Natura 2000 are very much the minority (some 5% of projects). 4. DETAILED CONTENT OF PROJECTS Experience sharing between projects is an essential component of Life. Each year, in the trimester following the co-financing decision, in order to encourage the circulation of ideas, the Commission published a summary in three languages of each of the selected Life-Nature projects. This transparency and rapidity facilitates the networking of projects and their integration into local development programmes. These annual summaries can be ordered through the Nature homepage at the following address: http://europa. eu. int/en/comm/dg 11 /nature/docum. htm 18 ANNEX2 L/F£-ENVIRONMENT 1. NUMBER OF CO-FINANCED PROJECTS Between 1992 and 1998 the Commission received 5449 applications under Life- Environment. Between 1993 and 1998 these applications represented a total of approximately ECU 5900 million in requested contributions. During the same period, the available budget made it possible to co-finance 795 projects (15%) for an overall amount of ECU 321 Million (5%). The table below gives a breakdown of essential data for each year: LIFE I LIFE II 921 (EUR 12) 93 (EUR 12) 94 (EUR 12) 95 (EUR 15) 96 (EUR 15) 97 (EUR 15) 98 (EUR 15) Number of projects received 300 1447 1224 729 Contribution requested _2 2012 Number of eligible projects +/- 185 Number of pre-selected projects (short-list) Contribution requested for pre selected projects Number of projects financed _3 _3 70 601 306 79 99 653 721 258 2214 431 264 601 393 283 177 514 328 244 194 634 292 526 226 84 84 90 81 100 160 135 104 112 115 Financial contribution granted 44. 6 44. 7 53. 1 48. 1 43. 3 43. 6 48. 6 Difference between projects pre selected and financed _3 33. 8 30. 6 36. 0 47. 2 37. 4 51. 4 1 The L//ë-Environment budget for 1992 includes reports from MEDSPÀ and NORSPA; 2 not available;3 no shortlist was drawn up in 1992 as the projects were selected under MEDSPA and NORSPA procedures. (All amounts are in million ecus and account only for the Community contribution, generally 30-50% of the total budget. ) The number of projects submitted, which declined between 1993 and 1997 rose in 1998; this number has always been much higher than the number of projects funded (by a ratio of 1 to 5 at least). The pre-selected projects, after parallel evaluations by the Commission and the Member States, also greatly exceed the budgetary possibilities of Life: the gap between the budget available and the potential contribution to pre-selected projects has continued to widen since the beginning. 19 2. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROJECTS Lz/e-Environment has no provision for sharing out the amount available between the Member States according to fixed criteria. The evaluation procedure is designed to select projects on the basis of merit, the projects being evaluated by subject category (waste, water, air, etc). This system of evaluation on merit nevertheless takes into account the state of the environment in each Member State, so as not to penalise less innovatory but exemplary projects, which can have a strong local impact. The annual distribution of contributions between Member States thus has little significance. As an indication, the year-by-year distribution of Z,z/ê-Environment contributions between Member States is as follows: Member States Life I Belgium Denmark Germany Greece Spain France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Austria 1992 2. 1 1993 3. 6 1994 2. 4 1995 3. 6 1996 1. 4 0. 8 7. 1 2. 1 3. 1 5. 5 3. 9 5. 1 0. 0 2. 1 - 3. 7 6. 7 2. 4 1. 1 4. 2 3. 1 5. 7 0. 8 3. 4 1. 2 7. 7 4. 5 4. 7 9. 2 2. 9 6. 2 0. 8 3. 5 0. 8 6. 9 3. 2 4. 7 6. 6 0. 2 6. 8 0. 2 4. 1 2. 1 5. 0 2. 5 4. 8 6. 7 0. 7 6. 0 0. 0 2. 8 - - 1. 8 2. 5 Portugal 2. 9 3. 4 1. 8 1. 2 2. 3 Finland Sweden - - - - - - 2. 2 2. 0 0. 5 2. 8 United Kingdom 8. 6 6. 4 8. 1 5. 3 1. 8 Life II 1997 3. 9 1998 3. 1 2. 3 4. 8 2. 8 3. 9 5. 7 1. 2 4. 1 0. 5 4. 0 1. 2 1. 2 1. 9 2. 1 4. 2 1. 0 6. 9 2. 5 4. 6 5. 5 1. 9 5. 0 0. 7 3. 6 1. 5 1. 0 1. 4 3. 0 7. 1 Total 20. 1 11. 9 45. 1 20. 0 26. 9 43. 4 13. 9 38. 9 3. 0 23. 5 7. 0 13. 8 7. 5 8. 4 41. 5 Total 44. 61 44. 7 53. 1 48. 1 43. 3 43. 6 48. 6 326. 0 1 including one international project for ECU 1. 3 million. (all amounts are in million ecus and account only for the Community contribution. ) 20 3. TYPES OF PROJECTS CO-FINANCED The following table shows the distribution by topic of the actions funded from 1992 to 1997. It is not exhaustive as regards completed projects. It shows that the actions most funded by ^//^-Environment concerned « clean technologies », modifying then water management, regional planning in rural areas, in urban areas, and waste management. industrial production processes, Topic Clean technologies Reduction of the industrial emissions (all sectors) Agri-food sector Glass and ceramics Chemical and electronics industries Construction industry Paper Surface treatments paint and ink Tanneries Textiles and laundries Wood and furnishing Number Contribution % 145 53 809 301 2 3% 12 20 9 28 5 13 27 15 7 9 4 852 536 6 246 427 3 609 078 9 175 709 1 448 632 9 949 234 7 219 857 4 410 396 2 362 546 4 534 886 Water management 93 42 747 634 18% Drinking water Groundwater Surface water and sea water Urban waste water Industrial waste water and treatment of water for industrial use Regional planning in rural areas and coastal areas 96 Rural development and agriculture Management of forests Management of natural areas Environment-friendly tourism Integrated management of coastal areas Protection of dunes 21 10 8 36 21 19 18 9 12 26 24 7 4 316 386 3 497 058 18 655 804 7 932 070 8 346 316 41 333 046 17% 5 357 886 3 543 021 6 161 320 8 553 151 13 171291 4 546 377 Regional planning in urban areas 72 32 660 512 14% Actions specific to suburban areas Planning or integrated management of urban areas Reduction of noise Measurement of air pollution Management of transport 7 17 4 17 27 3 701 237 10 058 497 1431364 6 229 960 11239 454 Waste management and treatment 91 35 868 390 15% Household waste management 14 4 579 086. Management of industrial or special waste Management of landfills Incineration-related projects Recycling of organic waste Recycling of sewage sludge Recycling of plastics and packaging Recycling of batteries Recycling of used tyres Mercury extraction and recycling Metallurgical industry waste 9 9 7 9 7 3 086 590 3 873 496 2 783 172 3 390 641 2 060 433 18 9 169 006 2 3 4 9 664 996 1201403 2 010 189 3 049 378 Soil protection and treatment 23 9 868 291 4% Treatment of soil pollution Fire prevention 21 2 9 422 330 445 961 Training, promoting awareness, environmental 48 19 994 173 8% management Impact assessment, evaluation, administrative structures Training, raising (inc. SMEs) the consciousness of economic actors 12 17 8 451350 4 455 344 Environmental management Total 19 7 087 479 569 236 281 347 The following comments consider only the most salient topics among Life- Environment actions. The reader can get further information from the brochure "LIFE in action - Demonstration projects for Europe's environment - 96 success stories" available from the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, or by consulting the Zi/e-Environment database homepage at the following address: http://europa. eu. int/comm/life/index. htm 22 3. 1. Modifications of industrial processes An important function of Z//ê-Environment is to promote the use of new technologies in manufacturing processes, as opposed to "end-of-pipe" pollution treatment. After a study conducted in 1995, the Commission tried to orientate proposers towards the most polluting sectors in order to concentrate efforts. Here are two examples of sectors where Life- Environment contributed to the implementation of clean technologies: Surface treatment in many industrial sectors is very polluting because of the chemicals used. One such case is de-coating in aeronautics, which currently uses large amounts of acid baths. Two projects tested alternative techniques: KLM in the Netherlands for high pressure water jets, and SOCHATA in France for ice blasting. The first project was a success, while the second proved that the technique, although technically valid, was unprofitable. The tanneries sector is a special case since about fifteen Life-iunded projects, including eight in Italy, cover all the stages of the tanning process and offer a complete solution to the acute pollution problems in this sector. Pollution has been reduced in air emissions, liquids (in particular those containing chromium) and solid waste. The techniques developed by the projects also appeared also interesting from an economic point of view (saving raw materials) and in the quality of the products. Thus there are possible "win-win" solutions in this sector in economic difficulty, in the "Objective 1 and 2" areas of Community regional policy. 3. 2. Water management Many of the projects financed by Zz/ê-Environment aim to improve the quality of water, with projects from both industries and local authorities. Completed projects generally produced interesting and reproducible results. issue of The treatment of urban waste water is an important environmental concern and the subject of many Life projects, applying techniques such as basins with macrophyte, mainly between 1992 and 1995, the improvement of nitrogenous compound treatments or the recycling of treated waste water for irrigation. The management of sewage networks in storms is also the subject of several projects. Projects on surface waters include several programmes of integrated water management and quality monitoring. For example, several Danish projects in 1993 and 1994 tried to restore water streams and wetlands while monitoring the quality of water in terms of biological and physico- chemical composition. 23 3. 3. Regional planning in rural areas This title covers projects on rural development, nature management, environmentally-friendly tourism and the rational management of coastal areas. Projects often concern several of these topics, so the proposed distribution is only indicative. For example, environmentally-friendly tourism projects often aim to restrict visits to fragile sites, planning tourism in regions with landscapes and natural environment of high value, trying out contracts to respect the environment (charter for durable tourism, eco-labelling, environmental management of tourist activities, etc. ). Some actions were reproduced afterwards in the framework of regional policies, e. g. Cohesion Fund actions. The rational management of coastal areas has twice been a priority for Life: in 1992, when Life took over from MEDSPA, and in 1996, under the demonstration programme on coastal zone management, initiated by a Commission communication in November 1995. The projects funded set up - for example - large partnerships to monitor the coastal environment (monitoring the sea and water quality) and pilot actions to improve this environment. The results of these actions, often of very high quality, probably stimulated the debate in Europe on the specific character of the management of coastal areas. 3. 4. Regional planning in urban areas This title covers projects relating on the one hand, to planning or the consistency of urban policies and, on the other hand, to more specific actions on noise and air pollution abatement. The management of transport, a critical and tricky aspect of urban policies, has been the subject of numerous Life projects since it started. Although they rarely cover demonstration of new vehicles or of new fuels, which is more relevant for other Community financing, there are many pilot management plans among Life projects, especially in Germany and the Benelux: mobility indicators, planning of goods transportation to release the pressure on city centres (Leyden 1994), modelling tools, etc. Between 1995 and 1997 some projects concentrated specifically on suburban areas, which represent an important issue for the environment: whether or not environmental requirements figure in the extension of urban areas, as well as the relationship between cities and the surrounding countryside, have important and durable effects on the environment. The role of agriculture in suburban areas in particular was examined by two Spanish projects of 1996, in Barcelona and Aranjuez. 24 3. 5. Waste management and treatment Waste management is an important topic for the environment and requires much expensive investment by local bodies; it has been the subject of numerous Life projects since the beginning. Actions funded cover all the issues involved, especially recycling, which ties in with the orientation of Community policy in this field. The management of industrial or special waste is the subject of projects with specific objectives but often interesting results, reusable at European level: hospital waste in Freiburg (D) and Helsinki (FIN) in 1996 or treatment of end-of-life refrigerators in Milan (IT) in 1995. Incineration-related projects include the demonstration of recent techniques, such as non-thermal plasma, in Culham (UK) in 1995 or the PyroArc process in Hofors (S) in 1997. Other projects include the recycling of incineration refuse in road coating in Kassel (D) and Le Mans (F) in 1996. The recycling of plastics and packaging, a critical aspect of waste management, is tackled by many projects on different materials or products (such as polyurethane in Langeac (F) or coated textiles in Saarland (D) in 1996) which initiate or supplement industrial recycling concerns. It is a field where economic factors are often important and require full-scale demonstration, hence the importance of financing mechanisms like Life, which still has an important role to play in this field. The recycling of batteries is a field where collection has been compulsory since 1991 for certain types of batteries but where treatment techniques are still under-developed or unsatisfactory the environmental point of view. With only three projects (plus the mercury recycling projects for certain types of batteries), Life took part in the demonstration of three of the ten or so techniques arriving on the European market to respond to this need: acid and basic hydrometallurgy (Recupyl 1994 and Zimaval 1998 respectively), and pyrometallurgy in arc furnaces (AFE Métal 1996). from 25 ANNEX3 LIFE- THIRD COUNTRIES 1. NUMBER OF CO-FINANCED PROJECTS Between 1992 and 1998, the Commission received 652 applications under Life- Third Countries totalling approximately ECU 250 million. During the same period, the available budget made it possible to select 96 projects for funding under Life-Third countries for a total EC contribution of almost ECU 33 million. The table below gives a breakdown of essential data for each year: LIFE I LIFE II 92 of projects 45' 93 551 94 65 95 103 96 82 97 98 121 181 of eligible 40 29 23 28 83 2 2 2 2 9 Contribution requested 18. 4 10. 2 10. 0 9. 8 of projects 12 14 16 13 16 24 16 contribution 5. 3 3. 5 4. 8 5. 7 6. 0 4. 2 4. 7 Number received Number projects Number financed Financial granted Estimate; 2 Not available. (All amounts are in million ecus and account only for the Community contribution, generally 50-100% of the total budget. ) In 1995, which was the last year of Life I, the total number of acceptable projects increased considerably because of the information campaign on Life-Third Countries. On the other hand, the number of projects considered eligible by the Commission decreased, because it wanted to place much greater emphasis on the technical quality of projects. The smaller number of projects accepted in 1996 is due to the fact that the new Life Regulation was adopted late leaving a relatively short period for submitting projects. The number of projects eligible and financed is similar to that for 1995. In subsequent years, the efforts made to disseminate information on Life-Third Countries increased the number of projects to 181 in 1998, approximately 50% more than in 1997. 26 2. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PROJECTS Life-Third Countries covers two geographical regions: the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea (since 1996 only the Baltic region of Russia, i. e. Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg). Since 1996 Life-Third Countries has been covering the non-Community countries bordering on the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea, except the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which have signed association agreements with the European Community. The latter can now take part in Life-Nature and Life- Environment, as a pre-accession exercise, on the basis of specific agreements with these countries. At the time of drafting this report, only Romania had completed the procedures necessary for submitting projects under Life as from 1999. The main objective of Life-Third Countries is to support, in countries bordering on the Union, technical assistance projects, nature conservation projects and demonstration projects to promote sustainable development, in order to promote awareness of the need for environmental protection in these countries. Life II is different from Life I in two ways: • • the instrument no longer applies to Poland, Slovenia and the three Baltic States which are now associate countries of Central and Eastern Europe; on the other hand, since 1996, it includes the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and since 1997, Bosnia and Herzegovina; it may cover demonstration projects on sustainable development and nature conservation in addition to simple technical assistance, as was the case with Life I. The following table shows the distribution of Life-Third Countries per country between 1992 and 1998: Mediterranean Region Baltic Region Country Albania Algeria Bosnia Cyprus Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Malta Morocco Palestine Syria Slovenia Tunisia Turkey Multinational Total 1 Total million ECU 2. 6 0. 66 0. 53 2. 45 1. 15 1. 18 0. 77 0. 97 1. 04 1. 15 0. 68 1. 62 1. 56 0. 75 3. 09 5. 41 25. 5 27 Country Estonia Latvia Lithuania Poland Russia million ECU 0. 81 1. 54 0. 14 0. 67 3. 55 v Multinational Total 2 33 0. 77 7. 5 3. TYPES OF FINANCED PROJECTS Since 1996, the framework for eligible actions has included technical assistance, nature conservation and demonstration projects. "Technical assistance" projects are the largest group of applications received, accounting for between 50% and 70%. This can be explained by the fact that Life-Third Countries is targeted primarily at national administrations faced with the need to define their environmental policies and action plans. The other categories of action are less widely represented and concern: • • for the "Nature" projects, conservation and/or restoration of coastal and wetland habitats. for demonstration projects, pilot projects (co-financed for the first time in 1997) covering a very wide range of fields: waste management and treatment, use of bicycles in towns and management of coastal areas. 3. 1 In the field of technical assistance, over the period 1992-1997, Life-Third Countries helped to establish ECATs, which are environmental centres for administration and technology (in St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Tirana, etc. ) which combine the know-how of third countries and the Community and play an important catalyst role in developing environmental policies in Central and Eastern Europe. In synergy with the action of other environmental programmes and conventions (HELCOM for the Baltic region), the authorities responsible have thus benefited from efficient technical assistance in several fields. Among the most important are the following: • • environmental monitoring, protection of water resources and waste water treatment (Latvia), treatment of waste from industrial galvanisation and management of a the collection and treatment of hospital waste in network for St Petersburg, • management of action against sea pollution by hydrocarbons in the Baltic Sea (region of St Petersburg). 3. 2 Life-Third Countries has also contributed successfully to Mediterranean Action Plan activities by funding projects submitted by some of its regional centres. These projects include assistance to national authorities in fields such as: • action against oil pollution in the territorial waters of Cyprus, Egypt and Israel (REMPEC), 28 • regional development of environment monitoring activities in the Mediterranean and developing specific indicators (Blue Plan), • conservation and rational use of wetlands (MED WET). 3. 3 Many projects involving a number of countries from the South and East the Mediterranean Mediterranean have also been Environmental Technical Assistance Programme (METAP). Examples are: financed under • • the problem of waste water treatment in the city of Cairo, the creation of a structure Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in Syria, to develop methodologies for • the design of an environmental action plan in Jordania. These various initiatives co-financed by Life-Third Countries illustrate the fundamental role of this instrument for the Union's neighbours in promoting the Community's environmental protection principles. Their active participation is a clear sign of interest. Life-Third Countries thus helps to interlink the principles and legislation of third countries and the European Union, and to transfer Community technologies and know-how to these regions. 29 ISSN 0254-1475 COM(98) 721 final DOCUMENTS EN 14 17 01 Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-721-EN-C Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg 30