EN Official Journal of the European Union C 191/2

GUIDELINES FOR LIFE ENVIRONMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS

(2004/C 191/02)

The main objective of LIFE, the only European financial instrument specifically dedicated to the environment, is to support the Sixth Environment Action Programme, its four priorities as well as its seven thematic strategies.

While not legally binding, the European Commission will use the present guidance to evaluate the importance of submitted LIFE-Environment demonstration project proposals in terms of community interest. Applicants are, therefore, invited to take into consideration that proposals addressing issues outside the scope of the priorities listed below are very unlikely to be co-financed. These guidelines are also available in the LIFE website at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/home.htm

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

LIFE-Environment projects should build upon results of community research programmes as far as this is possible and of promising technologies developed by the industrial sector. These projects should deliver results that could be a basis for wider dissemination activities, for example with the support of the structural funds.

LIFE-Environment supports innovative demonstration projects (1) within the spirit of the Göteborg strategy in particular those contributing to the Lisbon process by adding measurable social and economic benefits to environmental benefits and building on a knowledge base approach.

In accordance with the action plan for environmental technologies (2), LIFE-Environment encourages projects that lead to:

— the identification of promising environmental technologies/approaches (or methods or processes). and of the obstacles to their development leading to solutions to overcome those barriers.

In order to attain the best results projects should to the greatest extent:

— promote the widest possible application of scientifically verified technologies/approaches (i.e. network projects, dissemination of results by relevant bodies, etc.);

— integrate capacity building measures;

— involve financial institutions in the diffusion of the technologies/approaches developed by the projects.

Projects should address the most important environmental issues in the whole life cycle of a process or a product. LIFE-Environment support will be allocated to the best proposals in terms of innovative solutions for important environmental issues, leading to viable as well as qualitatively and quantitatively measurable concrete results. Proposals must be highly visible and technically and financially sound. They should incorporate the dissemination of knowledge. The demonstration character is particularly important; projects must be implemented on a technical scale that allows evaluation of technical and economic viability of large scale introduction. LIFE-Environment is not directed at research or at investment in existing technology. It aims to bridge the gap between research and development results and widespread implementation/market introduction. When relevant, LIFE is complementary to the Community Research Programmes and to the structural Funds and Rural Development Programmes, and thus aims at enhancing synergies with, and added value of, past and on-going work.

II. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The guidelines further define the priorities within the five objectives set out in Article 4 of the LIFE Regulation (3) in line with the orientations and approaches defined in the Sixth Environment Action Programme.

1. Sustainable land-use development and planning, including in urban and coastal areas

1.1. Sustainable urban development (4)

1.1.1. Development and promotion of sustainable urban transport plans for town and cities (to reduce urban transport demand, increase the share of public transport, encourage less polluting transport modes and improve the environmental performance of the transport system as a whole);

1.1.2. Implementation of integrated urban environmental management in towns and cities, including the effective reduction of noise level, particularly from transport and construction activities and meeting specific environmental targets.

1.2. Air quality management

1.2.1. Support of plans and programmes pursuant to Framework Directive 96/62/EC on ambient air quality and its daughter directives, by providing innovative solutions for air pollution abatement or for launching, monitoring and evaluating such plans and programmes through the use of indicators of the impact on health and the environment, including bio-indicators (5).

2. Sustainable management of groundwater and surface water (6)

2.1. Impact of agricultural and forest practices on water quality with regard to consequences on river basin management (surface and groundwater) and marine environment (eutrophication). This includes issues of pesticides, nutrient pollution and eutrophication, nitrogen balances in grassland and arable land taking into account quantitative aspects relevant to integrated water management;

2.2. Improvements on wastewater management and treatment technologies with a view to increased quality of effluent and re-use needs. Re-use of greywater, including rainwater, and the re-use of agricultural drainage water;

2.3. Phasing out, cessation of discharges and emissions, and losses of hazardous substances;

2.4. Flood prevention and control in the context of river basin management.

3. Minimising the environmental impact of economic activities

3.1 Clean technologies

3.1.1. Activities covered by the IPPC Directive, involving more specifically: (a) Implementation of more advanced techniques (in connection with environmental protection) than those described as best available techniques in BAT reference documents. The degree of innovation, by comparison with techniques referred to in BAT reference documents (7), should be clearly described; (b) Sectors where reference documents have not yet been produced, aiming to address the issues, in relation to BAT, listed in Annex IV of the Directive.

3.1.2. Support of activities addressing obstacles to the development of clean technologies not covered by IPPC, particularly those undertaken by SMEs.

3.2. Reduction of emissions of gases having a greenhouse effect

3.2.1. Development of innovative techniques or methods that substantially and quantifiably reduce greenhouse gas emissions (in all sectors, notably in industry, energy, transport, agriculture, forestry and waste management);

3.2.2. Innovative applications using renewable energy sources, for local or small-scale (<10MW) distributed generation of heat and power, complementary to other Community energy funding programmes.

4. Prevent, re-use, recover and recycle waste of all kinds

Priority in descending order:

4.1. Waste prevention for significant waste streams in terms of quantity and environmental impacts involving innovative means for: 4.1.1. Reduction of the amounts of waste through influencing production and/or consumption while not transferring the environmental pressures to other phases of the life cycle of the resource or to other compartments of the environment; 4.1.2. Reduction of the risks associated with hazardous substances in products.

4.2. Re-use of products, part of products or extension of the life-cycle of products in such a way as to reduce their impacts throughout their life cycles by: 4.2.1. Demonstration of the acceptability of re-use systems in the market place; 4.2.2. Design of innovative re-use systems which respond to existing market demands

4.3. Promotion of recycling through: 4.3.1. Development of innovative systems for a more efficient sorting of waste to facilitate recycling of batteries, packaging, end of life vehicles and waste electric and electronic equipment; 4.3.2. Removal of technical barriers and/or demonstration of new uses of recycled materials with the potential of increasing the environmental benefits of recycling especially plastics, rubber and batteries or other materials which are not recycled in normal practice.

5. Reducing the environmental impact of products and services

5.1. Environmental design of products and services

5.1.1. Reduction of the environmental impacts throughout the life-cycle of products or groups of products through innovative design (e.g. through ISO Type I labelling schemes) and improvement of the information flow within the supply-chain (e.g. through ISO Type III labelling).

5.2. Reducing environmental impacts during the use phase of products and services

5.2.1. Promotion of greening the use habits and consumption patterns regarding products and services that have a significant overall environmental impact due to the widespread use or their inherent characteristics.

(1) Only projects characterised by a ‘high’ degree of innovation can claim to be really innovative in this context (i.e. new technology or method, resulting from a study or research, which affects all or most of a production process or service).

(2) See COM(2004) 38 final, Brussels, 28 January 2004‘Stimulating Technologies for Sustainable Development: an Environmental Technologies Action Plan for the European Union’.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 1655/2000 concerning the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE).

(4) Particular attention will be given to projects which may be used to support the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment prepared by the Commission - http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/urban/thematic_strategy.htm

(5) Bio-indicators = organisms or communities of organisms reacting under environmental influence with changes in their life functions and/or their chemical structure and therefore make it possible to conclude on the state of the environment.

(6) Particular attention will be given to projects that promote a coherent sustainable and integrated approach to water management in line with the orientations and recommendations of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy).

(7) See the full list of industrial sectors where BREFs are being developed at: http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm