(14 February 2017) – The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) reiterates its support for LIFE, the European programme dedicated to the environment and climate change, and calls for a budget increase after 2020.
At the mid-term evaluation of the LIFE programme, the CoR called on the European Commission (EC) to increase the allocation of funds to action grants under the LIFE programme for Nature and Biodiversity and to increase its overall budget after 2020.
The CoR reaffirmed its position on the role of LIFE in tackling the uneven and inadequate implementation and enforcement of environment legislation in the Member States.
The President of the Łódzkie Region, Witold Stępień (PL/EPP), who is the rapporteur of the LIFE opinion, “remains very concerned that the total budget allocated to LIFE Nature and Biodiversity 2014-2020 is around EUR 1.155 billion, while the EC has estimated that EUR 5.8 billion of annual investments are needed for the entire Natura 2000 network”.