LIFE+ 2007Project evaluation and selection

LIFE+ committee

28 July 2008

1) Reception and registration of proposals

2) Eligibility phase

3) Financial selection phase

4) Technical selection phase

5) Award phase

6) Setting up the initial long- and reserve lists

7) Revision phase

8) Setting up the final short- and reserve lists

9) Next steps after the committee meeting

10) Lessons learnt for LIFE+ 2008

1. Reception and registration of proposals

Reception and registration of proposals

• 707 proposals received on CD/DVD

• Information entered into ESAP

• Proposals per component:LIFE+ Environ. Policy & Governance 325

LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity 264

LIFE+ Information & Communication 118

2

7

8

8

13

13

15

24

35

49

65

86

21

97

89

175

0 30 60 90 120 150 180

Noise

Health

Soil

Chemicals

Innovation

Air

Forests

Urban environment

Strategic approaches

Water

Climate change

Waste and natural resources

Forest fire prevention training

Awareness raising campaigns

LIFE+ Biodiversity

LIFE+ Nature

Proposals submitted per

policy area

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

IT ES GR PT DE FI FR BE BG UK SI S RO AU NL CY PL SK HU MT EE LV CZ DK IRL LT LUX

Proposals submitted per Member State

Proposals submitted per Member State

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

IT ES GR PT DE FI FR BE BG UK SI S RO AU NL CY PL SK HU MT EE LV CZ DK IRL LT LU

Information andcommunication

Environmental policyand governance

Nature andbiodiversity

2. Eligibility phase

Eligibility phase

• Checking the general eligibility criteria and the completeness of the proposal forms submitted

• Check of the financial annexes submitted (applicants other than public authorities)

• Request for additional information by e-mail if:

- financial annexes are incomplete/missing

- not more than one form is missing/incomplete

- obligatory signatures are missing

Results of the eligibility phase

Proposals retained 585 82%

immediately 495

request additional information 124

Proposals rejected 122 18%

immediately 51

request additional information 71

Eligibility phase: reasons for failure

Ineligible without request for further information (51)several forms missing or incomplete 43

not submitted in electronic format 2

not submitted via the competent authority 3

beneficiary(ies) not legally constituted in the EU 3

Ineligible after request for further information (71)no reply within the deadline of 7 working days 36

resubmitted documents/ forms still incomplete 26

beneficiary refused to submit the requested documents 9

3. Financial selection phase

Financial selection phase

• Financial capacity assessment for all coordinating beneficiaries other than “public authorities”

• Request for additional proof in case of doubt about the “public authority” status declared in the proposal (by letter)

Financial selection phase: results

Proposals rejected 70 12%negative assessment (insufficient financial capacity) 35assessment not feasible (data incoherent/incomplete) 4auditor certificate not unqualified/adequate 5proof for public authority status not provided 26

Proposals not evaluated 6 1%

Proposals retained 226 39%

Proposals from Public Authorities 283 48%

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Total retained 509 87%

4. Technical selection phase

Technical selection criteria

LIFE+ Environmental Policy & Governancedemonstration or innovation (or support to forest monitoring) ?

LIFE+ Information & Communicationawareness raising campaign (or training for forest fire agents) ?

LIFE+ Nature25% concrete conservation actions ?(2 exceptions: marine Natura 2000 inventories + support to monitoring)

best practise or demonstration ?if relevant, appropriate conservation status (Natura 2000) ?

LIFE+ Biodiversity25% concrete conservation actions ?(2 exceptions: development biodiversity indicators + GMO risk

assessment)

demonstration or innovation ?

Technical selection phase: results

39

36

4

4

64

131

80

240

0 100 200 300

LIFE+ Biodiversity

LIFE+ Nature

LIFE+ Information andCommunicaton

LIFE+ EnvironmentalPolicy and

Governance

Evaluated

Rejected

Technical selection: reasons for failure

LIFE+ Environmental Policy & GovernanceNeither innovation nor demonstration: 4

LIFE+ Information & CommunicationNot within the scope of LIFE+ information & Communication: 4

LIFE+ NatureNot within the scope of this component: 5Neither best-practise nor demonstration: 2 Less than 25% for concrete conservation actions: 18*Insufficient/ inadequate Natura 2000 conservation status: 14*

LIFE+ BiodiversityNot within the scope of LIFE+ Biodiversity: 6Neither innovation nor demonstration (but often best-practise): 23 Less than 25% for concrete conservation actions: 10

5. Award phase

Award phase: evaluation criteria

Name of the award criterion Maximumscore

MinimumPassscore

Significantdivergence

1. Technical coherence and quality 15 8 > 32. Financial coherence and quality 15 8 > 33. Contribution to the general objectives of LIFE+

25 12 > 4

4. European added value 25 12 > 45. Complementarity and optimal use of the EU funding

10 5 > 2

6. Transnational character 5 - > 17. National added value according to the LIFE+ national authority

5 - > 1

Total 100

Award phase: 181 project retained

17

37

60

137

25

95

76

236

0 100 200 300

LIFE+ Biodiversity

LIFE+ Nature

LIFE+ Information &Communication

LIFE+ EnvironmentPolicy &

Governance

Evaluated

Rejected

Technical Selection & Award:success rate (%)

13%

20%

41%

44%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

LIFE+ Biodiversity

LIFE+ Information &Communication

LIFE+ EnvironmentPolicy & Governance

LIFE+ Nature

6. Setting up the initial long- and reserve lists

Setting up initial long- and reserve lists

Constraints: • listing according to merit (scores)• at least 50% for projects for Nature & Biodiversity• respect of the national allocations (if possible)• at least 15% for transnational projects (if possible)

STEP 1: nature & biodiversity (inside Natl. Allocations)

STEP 2: nature & biodiversity (≥ 50% available budget)

STEP 3: remaining projects (inside Natl. Allocations)

STEP 4: remaining projects (until 100% consumed)

STEP 5: reserve list (10% Nature & Biodiversity; 10% others)

The initial list

  N° projects Amounts allocated (€)

Step 1 59 93.683.955

Step 3 99 134.636.670

Step 4 140 186.960.541

Reserve list 28 65.939.620

The initial list: national allocations

0 5.000.000 10.000.000 15.000.000 20.000.000 25.000.000 30.000.000

UKSK

SISEROPT

PLNLMTLV

LUXLTIT

IEHUGRFR

FIESEEDK

DECZCYBG

BEAT

7. Revision phase

Revision phase

168 projects admitted to revision (140 long-listed + 28 reserve listed projects)

Revision aimed at clarifying open questions and improving the quality of the proposals

some « Killer questions » to be asked

Result: Revised/reduced project budgets Exclusion of ineligible costs/actions Withdrawal of proposals possible

• 13 proposals withdrawn (either by Commission or by beneficiary itself)

• budget reductions in the remaining projects

• EC contribution for « Forest Focus » proposal reduced from 45 to 16.1 million €

Revision phase: outcome

8. Setting up the final short- and reserve lists

The final list

  N° projects Amount allocated

Step 1 56 83.386.435

Step 2 60 95.180.963

Step 3 100 130.433.781

Step 4 143 186.055.696

Reserve list 12 11.667.979

Final shortlist: summary

Number of projects: 143

LIFE+ amount to be committed: 186.055.696 €

% of this amount for:

- projects for Nature & Biodiversity: 51,2 %

- transnational projects: 30,5 %

The final list: national allocations

0 5.000.000 10.000.000 15.000.000 20.000.000 25.000.000 30.000.000

UKSK

SISEROPT

PLNLMTLV

LUXLTIT

IEHUGRFR

FIESEEDK

DECZCYBG

BEAT

Blue: national allocation used White: national allocation not usedYellow: national allocation surpassed (all amounts in €)

Final shortlist

0 50 100 150 200

NoiseHealth

SoilChemicalsInnovation

AirForests

Urban environmentStrategic approaches

WaterClimate change

Waste and natural resources

Forest f ire prevention trainingAw areness raising campaigns

LIFE+ BiodiversityLIFE+ Nature

Proposals submitted vs. projects retained

per policy area

Final list by Member State and by component

0 5.000.000 10.000.000 15.000.000 20.000.000 25.000.000 30.000.000 35.000.000

UKSKSI

SEROPTPLNLMTLV

LUXLTITIE

HUGRFRFI

ESEEDKDECZCYBGBEAT

LIFE+ Environment Policy & Governance

LIFE+ Information & Communication

LIFE+ Nature & Biodiversity

• Successful applicants invited to submit 3 paper copies of the proposal, with original signatures

• Unsuccessful applicants informed by letter about the reasons for project failure

9. Next steps after the LIFE+ Committee meeting

10. Lessons learnt for LIFE+ 2008

• Eligibility criteria softened (> incomplete forms)

• Financial viability check restricted to private bodies

• Clarifications provided on the scope of LIFE+ Biodiversity and LIFE+ Information and Communication