Multilevel climate and energy dialogue to deliver the Governance Regulation and the post–2030 energy and climate policy framework

Call under the LIFE Programme LIFE-2026 managed by CINEA to fund multilevel climate and energy dialogue to support implementation of the Governance Regulation and prepare the post-2030 energy and climate policy framework. Topic budget is €2,000,000 with one grant expected, a maximum funding rate of 90% and an indicative project duration of 36 months; proposals may request up to €2 million. Consortia must include at least three independent legal beneficiaries from three eligible countries and proposals should target establishment or strengthening of dialogues in 6 to 10 EU Member States. Submit electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by 22 September 2026 at 17:00 CET following LIFE templates and eligibility rules.

Call and deadlines

LIFE Projects for addressing ad hoc Legislative and Policy priorities (PLP) — LIFE-2026-PLP-ENER-GOV

Single-stage call opening 21 April 2026. Submission deadline 22 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. The contracting authority expects to award only one grant under this topic.

What it funds:Projects that establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues across administrative levels to support implementation and reporting under the Energy Union Governance Regulation and prepare the post-2030 policy framework, including governance/process models and coherent reporting approaches. Proposals should target 6–10 EU Member States and focus on institutionalising stakeholder engagement and linkages to national/local plans ¹.

1. 1Focus: multilevel governance, NECP reporting mechanisms, sharing of good practices and stakeholder engagement.
2. 2Expected outcomes: reinforced dialogue platforms, institutionalised collaborations, improved NECP inputs and monitoring.
3. 3Not expected: development of new large digital platforms unless clearly justified and scalable.

Who can apply / consortium

Eligible applicants:legal entities (public or private) established in participating/eligible countries (EU Member States and associated countries). Natural persons are not eligible. Proposals must be submitted by at least three independent applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities) from three different eligible countries.

Consortium requirements:Minimum 3 beneficiaries from 3 different eligible countries; project should demonstrate neutral facilitation and active participation of local, regional and national stakeholders. Priority given to countries/areas with less-developed multilevel dialogue ¹.

Money and duration

Projects must quantify expected qualitative and quantitative impacts at project end and 5 years after, using indicators such as number of reinforced governance structures/dialogue platforms, updated NECP inputs, stakeholders engaged, energy and emissions impacts, and investments triggered.

Practical notes

Apply through the Funding & Tenders Portal using the LIFE Project Grant (LIFE-PJG, LIFE-AG) templates; follow call-specific page limits and annex requirements. Admissibility, eligibility, financial and operational capacity checks will apply; grant will be budget-based with reporting, audits and standard LIFE grant conditions.

Footnotes

1. 1Full topic text, eligibility rules, application templates and submission are available on the Portal topic page: LIFE-2026-PLP-ENER-GOV topic page.

Call identity and administrative facts

Basic call details

Call title:LIFE Projects for addressing ad hoc Legislative and Policy priorities (PLP). Topic: LIFE-2026 — Multilevel climate and energy dialogue to deliver the Governance Regulation and the post–2030 energy and climate policy framework. Programme: LIFE (Programme for the Environment and Climate Action), Clean Energy Transition sub-programme. Type of action: LIFE Project Grants (LIFE-PJG) under the LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based Model (LIFE-AG). Call opening date: 21 April 2026. Single-stage submission. Deadline: 22 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. Submission route: Electronic submission only via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (Submission System).

Expected number of grants and contracting authority:The contracting authority expects to award only one grant for this specific topic. Grant management and evaluation will be performed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) on behalf of the Commission.

Scope, objectives and expected impacts

Objective:Support Member States to establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues that implement the Governance Regulation, prepare and update National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and Long-Term Strategies, and prepare the post-2030 energy and climate policy framework. The topic targets governance, reporting and monitoring improvements across administrative levels (local, regional, national) and stakeholders, strengthening information sharing, co-definition of strategies, institutionalisation of dialogue structures and development of governance/process models for robust reporting and monitoring of NECPs.

1. 1Establish or reinforce permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues and structured synergies among governance levels and stakeholders.
2. 2Increase co-definition and coherence of strategies and measures at different governance levels and improve local and national reporting schemes (e.g. SECAPs, NECPs, Heating and Cooling plans, National Building Renovation Plans).
3. 3Deliver governance/process models and innovative monitoring and verification schemes mixing top-down and bottom-up approaches for NECP reporting and updates.
4. 4Link project activities to other national and European initiatives and existing fora (e.g. National Building Renovation plans, Social Climate Plans, national hubs of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition).
5. 5Ensure sustainability of dialogue structures (institutionalisation) and capitalise on existing EU projects, platforms and good practices (e.g. LIFE21-CET-GOV-NECPlatform).

Geographic and target coverage:Proposals should aim to establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues in 6 to 10 EU Member States. Priority will be given to geographic areas where multilevel dialogue is less developed. Proposals must provide a clear rationale for selection of each country, current maturity analysis and complementarity with existing mechanisms.

Expected qualitative and quantitative impacts:Qualitative impacts include improved multilevel dialogues; improved coherence and synergies between strategies; stronger engagement across governance levels and stakeholders; and better sharing of information and good practices. Quantitative impacts must be quantified at project end and for 5 years after project end using topic-specific indicators and common LIFE Clean Energy Transition indicators. Examples include newly developed/reinforced governance structures/dialogue platforms; new or reinforced governance/process models for NECP reporting; number of institutionalised collaborations across administrative layers; number of NECPs updated integrating project outcomes; number of contributions/synergies with other initiatives; number of stakeholders engaged (broken down by administrative layer and stakeholder group). Common CET indicators to be quantified when relevant: primary and final energy savings (GWh/year), renewable generation triggered (GWh/year), GHG reduction (t CO2-eq/year), investments triggered in sustainable energy (cumulative, million EUR).

Eligibility and consortium requirements

Eligible applicants:legal entities (public or private bodies) established in eligible countries participating in the LIFE Programme. Applicants must be legal entities registered in EU Member States, overseas countries and territories linked to the EU, or countries associated to LIFE according to the list in the call documents. Natural persons are not eligible (except self-employed / sole traders when applicable). International organisations may participate. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

Consortium composition:Proposals must be submitted by at least three applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from three different eligible countries. The topic expects 6–10 Member States to be covered by the action activities (establishing/strengthening dialogues). The contracting authority expects to fund only one grant for this topic.

Specific documentation and forms

Applicants must use the standard LIFE application templates provided in the Submission System: Application Form Part A (online), Application Form Part B (PDF upload, maximum 50 pages for Part B), detailed budget table (LIFE Detailed Budget Table XLSX), Participant Information form (DOCX) and any mandatory annexes. Page limits, layout, and font size rules apply as described in Part B and the Call Document. All participants must be registered in the Participant Register and validated (Legal Entity Validation) before grant signature. Standard Model Grant Agreement (LIFE MGA) applies; the grant is budget-based (mixed actual cost grant) and governed by the LIFE-specific MGA and EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509. Applicants should consult the Call Document, the LIFE Multiannual Work Programme 2025-2027, LIFE Regulation 2021/783 and related reference documents for full rules and templates ¹.

Project duration, budget, funding rate and financial rules

Indicative project duration:36 months (indicative). Maximum funding rate: 90% of eligible costs. Maximum EU contribution: The Commission considers that proposals requesting up to €2 million would appropriately address the topic objectives; proposals requesting other amounts may still be submitted and considered. The call’s topic budget allocation for LIFE-2026 is €2,000,000 (indicative). The grant will be budget-based and may include actual costs, unit costs, flat-rate elements and indirect cost flat-rate. Indirect costs flat-rate and other cost category rules follow the LIFE MGA and Annex 2/2a provisions. Reimbursement rules, prefinancing, interim and final payments, eligibility periods and certificate thresholds follow the LIFE Model Grant Agreement and Data Sheet.

Financial reporting and audits:Beneficiaries must prepare continuous reporting (deliverables and indicators in the Portal), periodic technical and financial reports, and financial statements. Certificates on financial statements (CFS) may be requested for beneficiaries exceeding the threshold in the Data Sheet. Records and supporting documents must be kept for the retention period specified in the Data Sheet; EU checks, reviews, audits and investigations (including OLAF, ECA and EPPO) may be performed. Recoveries, corrections, reductions and sanctions are applied under the EU Financial Regulation and the LIFE MGA.

Eligible applicant types — categorisation

Eligible Applicant Types:The call accepts legal entities such as public bodies, national, regional and local authorities, research institutes, universities, NGOs, non-profit organisations, private companies including SMEs, large enterprises, public-private partnerships, and international organisations established in eligible countries. Natural persons are not eligible (except for self-employed individuals in specific cases). Associated partners, subcontractors and affiliated entities can participate under defined conditions. Applicants from non-associated third countries may participate only exceptionally where necessary for achievement of the action objectives; such participation normally is at their own cost.

Categorisation questions and structured extraction

Eligible Applicant Types

Detailed description:Eligible primary applicants (beneficiaries) are legal entities (public and private bodies). Specific examples that fit the opportunity: national ministries and agencies (energy, environment, climate), regional administrations, city authorities, municipal networks, universities, research institutes, think tanks, civil society organisations and NGOs active in energy/climate governance, business associations, utilities and industry associations, public-private partnerships, energy agencies, local/regional development banks, and international organisations. SMEs and large enterprises may participate where justified by the role in governance, facilitation or stakeholder engagement. Entities must be established in eligible countries associated with the LIFE programme; the coordinator must be in an eligible country. Natural persons cannot be beneficiaries (sole traders may appear under specific units for SME owners and natural person beneficiaries if applicable).

Funding Type

Primary financial mechanism:Grant (action grant). The grant is budget-based (mixed actual cost grant) implemented under the LIFE Model Grant Agreement (LIFE MGA). Mechanisms include reimbursement of eligible actual costs (personnel, travel, equipment, subcontracting, other direct costs), potential unit cost elements (SME owners, volunteers), flat-rate indirect costs, and possible small elements of financing not linked to costs where specified. Financial support to third parties is not allowed for this topic (unless explicitly authorised in call conditions; for this topic it is not indicated).

Consortium Requirement

Consortium or single applicant:Consortium required. Minimum requirement: at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from three different eligible countries. The proposal must cover activities in 6 to 10 EU Member States; the consortium should include or clearly demonstrate pathways to engage local/regional actors in those countries and must include competent authorities of regions/territories involved for related sub-activities when relevant.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Geographic eligibility:EU Member States and countries associated to the LIFE Programme (the call document references eligible countries under section 6 and the Participant Register). Proposals should target and implement activities in 6–10 EU Member States and justify country selection. Non-associated third country participation is exceptional and only permitted if essential for the action’s objectives; associated countries to LIFE are eligible and may sign grants if association is in force.

Target Sector

Thematic sector:Clean energy transition, governance and policy. Primary sectors targeted include energy policy and governance, climate policy, public administration and governance, energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, and stakeholder engagement. Secondary sectors: finance (investment planning), buildings & renovation, heating and cooling, urban policy and local energy planning, climate adaptation where relevant, and civil society engagement.

Mentioned Countries

Explicitly mentioned regions/countries in the topic description:EU Member States generally; priority coverage expected across 6 to 10 EU Member States. No individual Member States are mandatory in the topic text; the document references the EU-wide context (NECPs across Member States) and the upcoming Governance Regulation revision planned for Q4 2026. Where other LIFE topics reference specific countries, such detail is in their descriptions; for this topic applicants must propose the specific Member States to be covered and justify selections.

Project Stage

Expected project maturity:governance and policy implementation stage — from concept/strategic planning through demonstration/pilot institutionalisation and up to deployment and validation of governance models. Typical stages: validation/demonstration of governance models, stakeholder engagement, institutionalisation, monitoring and reporting frameworks for NECP integration; projects are not technology-development R&D but governance and policy implementation (TRL concept not applicable).

Funding Amount

Funding scale and range:Maximum EU contribution indicative guidance: the Commission considers proposals requesting up to €2 million appropriate for this topic. Maximum funding rate: 90% of eligible costs. Topic budget indicated in the Call Document for LIFE-2026 is €2,000,000 (the contracting authority expects to award only one grant). The final grant amount awarded may be lower than requested depending on evaluation and available budget.

Application Type

Method of submission:Open call (single-stage), publicly advertised on the Funding & Tenders Portal with a single submission deadline. Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Portal Submission System. This call is not rolling; submission is by the stated deadline only.

Nature of Support

Nature of support provided:Monetary support in the form of an EU grant (action grant). Indirect non-monetary support may include technical or policy guidance, stakeholder engagement facilitation and dissemination exposure through Commission/CINEA channels; however the primary modality is financial grant support to implement the proposed activities.

Application Stages

Number of selection stages:Single-stage evaluation (one submission stage), followed by grant preparation for the successful proposal. Evaluation process includes admissibility and eligibility checks, technical evaluation by experts, ranking, and possible grant preparation dialogue before signature. Timeline: call opens 21 April 2026, deadline 22 September 2026; information on evaluation results expected January 2027; Grant Agreement signature April/May 2027.

Success Rates

Indicative success rates:Not published specifically for this topic. The call allocates €2,000,000 to this topic and expects to award 1 grant. Success rate will depend on the number and quality of eligible proposals submitted. Historically PLP topics are competitive and selection is limited (single-grant topics have low nominal numbers of awards), therefore applicants should expect a low selection probability per submission unless highly targeted to the topic and evaluation criteria.

Co-funding Requirement

Co-funding:The LIFE grant typically finances up to the maximum funding rate (90%) of eligible costs; the remaining share (at least 10%) must be provided by beneficiaries or other sources (own funds, public or private co-financing). There is no additional compulsory cash co-financing beyond the non-EU contribution implied by the funding rate, except where specific project design requires leveraging other funds or matching contributions for sustainability and continuation. For some cost categories or project types, applicants may propose complementary financing streams or in-kind contributions, which must be transparent and compliant with LIFE rules.

Templates and application form structure

Application templates and structure:Applicants must use the standard LIFE application pack (Application Form LIFE TA CAP, TA-R, PLP and BEST) available in the Submission System. Part A is the online administrative form; Part B (technical description) is uploaded as a PDF. Annexes include the Detailed Budget Table (LIFE XLSX), Participant Information form (for each participant), and any call-specific annexes. The technical Part B template contains sections and tags for the following content: Project summary, Relevance (background, objectives, compliance, concept and methodology, upscaling of prior EU projects, complementarity and synergies), Impact (ambition, sustainability, exploitation), Implementation (work plan, work packages, milestones, deliverables, timetable), Stakeholder engagement, Impact monitoring and reporting, Communication/dissemination, Resources (consortium setup, management, green management, budget, risk management), Ethics and Security, Declarations and annex list.

1. 1Part A (online): General information, Participants, Budget, Other questions.
2. 2Part B (PDF upload): Cover page, Project summary, Relevance, Impact, Implementation (work packages, Gantt), Resources, Other sections, Declarations.
3. 3Mandatory annexes: Detailed budget table (LIFE XLSX), Participant information (DOCX), other documents required by the call.

Part B page limit:50 pages. Supporting annexes are not included in the 50-page limit unless specified. Formatting rules (A4 page, minimum Arial 10, margins) must be respected; failure to comply may lead to inadmissibility or disregarded pages. Use the Portal templates inside the Submission System (not the examples on the topic page).

Evaluation, award criteria and thresholds

Evaluation and award:Single-stage submission with evaluation by independent experts and an evaluation committee. The award criteria and scoring (maximum points and thresholds) follow the Call Document and LIFE scoring rules. Award criteria for the call: Relevance (0–20 points), Impact (0–20 points), Quality (0–20 points), Resources (0–20 points). Individual thresholds per criterion: 10/20 each. Overall threshold: 55 points (after weighting; maximum total 90 points). Evaluation includes admissibility, eligibility, financial and operational capacity checks and possible request for clarification during grant preparation.

How to prepare a competitive proposal — key technical guidance

Focus the proposal on concrete, measurable results and clear impact pathways linked to NECP updates and governance. Provide robust baseline situation analysis for each selected Member State (explain country selection), demonstrate how the multilevel dialogue will be institutionalised and sustained after the project, and quantify impacts against the topic indicators at project end and for five years post-project. Show practical governance/process models and describe pilot applications, monitoring and verification schemes combining top-down and bottom-up approaches, stakeholder mapping and neutral facilitation mechanisms, political buy-in, and linkages to ongoing national and EU initiatives (e.g. National Building Renovation Plans, Social Climate Plans, European Energy Award, national hubs of financing coalitions). Proposals should avoid creating new digital platforms unless strong added value and scale-up plan are demonstrated.

1. 1Provide clear rationale and diagnostics for each selected country (6–10 MS), including current level of multilevel dialogue and gaps.
2. 2Describe governance/process model(s) and show how these will be applied and institutionalised; include monitoring verification approach (mix of top-down and bottom-up).
3. 3Detail stakeholder engagement and neutral facilitation arrangements and how to secure political leadership and continuity.
4. 4Include pilot activities and capacity building for relevant authorities and stakeholders; limit training budget to recommended proportions where specified by other topics (example pilot in a different topic recommended 10% limit for training).
5. 5Quantify impacts using topic indicators (dialogue platforms established, NECP updates influenced, stakeholder numbers, energy/ghg/investment indicators where relevant) for end-of-project and five-year post-project time horizon.

Risks, exclusions and compliance

Financial and operational capacity checks will be performed according to the LIFE rules. Public bodies and international organisations are generally exempt from certain financial capacity checks. Exclusion grounds apply under EU Financial Regulation (bankruptcy, grave professional misconduct, fraud, money laundering, serious breach of obligations under EU contracts or grants, etc.). Proposals must respect EU values and legal obligations on ethics, data protection, confidentiality and security. Non-compliance can trigger rejection of costs, grant reduction, suspension or termination and administrative sanctions.

Summary: What is this opportunity about and how to explain it

This LIFE PLP topic funds one targeted governance project to establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues across multiple EU Member States to implement and operationalise the Governance Regulation and to prepare the post-2030 energy and climate policy framework. The action aims to create institutionalised, participatory dialogue processes linking local, regional and national levels and a wide set of stakeholders (civil society, industry, investors, academia and communities), to co-define strategies, align reporting systems (including NECPs and local plans), deliver governance/process models for robust monitoring and verification and to institutionalise good practices. Projects must be consortium-based (minimum three independent beneficiaries from three eligible countries) and should deliver measurable qualitative and quantitative impacts at project end and five years later. Funding is a grant up to 90% of eligible costs, with an indicative maximum EU contribution around €2 million and an expected project duration of approximately 36 months. Proposals must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal by the deadline and must follow LIFE templates, page limits and the LIFE Model Grant Agreement rules. The intervention is policy-driven, top-down in its priority definition but requires locally-tailored participatory implementation and strong evidence-based quantification of impact.

For official guidance and to prepare your submission use the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System, the online Manual and the templates. Contact your National Contact Point (NCP) for the LIFE programme and use partner search and Enterprise Europe Network resources for consortium building. The Portal contains Q&A and IT helpdesk contacts for submission technical support. For further information consult the call documents and the LIFE reference documentation available on the Portal. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Call documentation and templates (Call document, Application Form and annexes, LIFE Model Grant Agreement, Detailed Budget Table, Participant Information, LIFE Multiannual Work Programme 2025-2027, LIFE Regulation 2021/783, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual and reference documents) are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal topic page for LIFE-2026 and in the Portal Reference Documents. Applicants must use the templates provided inside the Submission System when preparing their proposal.

Opportunity Overview

This is a call for proposals under the LIFE Programme (Programme for the Environment and Climate Action) specifically addressing multilevel climate and energy dialogue to support the implementation of the EU Governance Regulation and prepare for the post-2030 energy and climate policy framework. The call is issued under Topic 2 of the LIFE-2026-PLP (Projects addressing ad hoc Legislative and Policy Priorities) and is managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

Key Funding Details

Total Budget Available:€2,000,000 is allocated for this specific topic. The Commission considers that proposals requesting an EU contribution of up to €2 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately, though this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Number of Grants:Only 1 grant will be awarded under this funding topic.

Funding Rate and Maximum EU Contribution:Maximum funding rate is 90%. The maximum EU contribution is €2 million, though proposals may request other amounts if justified.

Project Duration:Indicatively 36 months. Extensions are possible if duly justified through an amendment to the grant agreement.

Submission Deadlines and Timeline

Eligibility and Consortium Requirements

Eligible Countries:EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories), EEA countries, and countries associated with the LIFE Programme. Non-EU countries may be exceptionally eligible if their participation is considered essential by the granting authority.

Consortium Composition Requirements:Proposals must be submitted by at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries. Each beneficiary must be a legal entity (public or private body) established in an eligible country. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

Eligible Participants:Legal entities including public bodies, research organisations, civil society organisations, private companies, and international organisations. Natural persons are not eligible except self-employed persons (sole traders). EU bodies (except the Joint Research Centre) cannot be part of the consortium.

Project Objectives and Scope

The Governance Regulation sets out rules for planning, reporting and monitoring on the Energy Union and Climate Action. It requires Member States to establish permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues bringing together local authorities, civil society organisations, the business community, investors and other relevant stakeholders. However, the 2025 European Commission assessment found that implementation has been uneven across Member States. This call aims to support Member States in fostering multilevel climate and energy dialogue to deliver comprehensive energy governance, the Fit for 55 Package, and prepare the post-2030 energy and climate policy framework.

Main Activities Expected

• Establish permanent dialogue and create/strengthen structured synergies between different administrative levels (regions, cities, national governments) and stakeholders to reach ambitious and shared decarbonisation targets
• Increase co-definition and coherence of strategies and measures at different governance levels, and improve reporting schemes at local level (e.g. Heating and Cooling plans, Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans, European Energy Award) and national level (e.g. NECPs, National Building Renovation Plans, Social Climate Plans)
• Deliver governance or process models to allow for robust and consistent reporting mechanisms, integrating vertical and horizontal administrative layers and delivering innovative monitoring and verification schemes
• Make links to other ongoing initiatives and existing dialogue fora aimed at enhancing and implementing connected and relevant policies and initiatives
• Ensure sustainability of newly created dialogue structures or strengthen existing dialogue structures in the long-term through institutionalisation

Proposals should aim to establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues in 6 to 10 EU Member States. They should provide a clear rationale for the selection of each country, including the current level of development of multi-level climate and energy dialogue, an analysis of existing mechanisms and how the proposed activities will complement them. Priority will be given to proposals focusing on geographic areas in which multi-level climate and energy dialogue are less developed.

Expected Impacts and Indicators

Qualitative Impacts

• Improved Member States multilevel dialogues in the context of achieving the Union's climate-neutrality objective and different scenarios envisaged for energy and climate policies
• Improved coherence and synergies in strategies and measures across different stakeholders and governance levels
• Improved engagement of different administrative levels and stakeholders on energy and climate matters to ensure effective and shared implementation of policies and delivery of related investments
• Improved sharing of information and good practices for effective and timely multilevel dialogue

Quantitative Indicators

• Newly developed/reinforced governance structures/dialogue platforms to enhance exchanges between different administrative layers and stakeholders
• Newly developed/reinforced governance or process models establishing a solid reporting mechanism for the NECPs
• Number of institutionalised collaborations on the energy transition between public authorities with different administrative layers (local, regional, national) and stakeholders (civil society, communities, youth, academia, industry and business)
• Number of updated NECPs integrating the outcomes of the project measures
• Number of contributions/synergies built with other European and national initiatives (e.g. National and Regional Partnership Plans, National Building Renovation plans, Social Climate Plans, EU Agenda for Cities, Heating and Cooling plans)
• Number of stakeholders (organisations) engaged in the process, broken down by administrative layers and stakeholder groups
• Primary energy savings triggered by the project (GWh/year)
• Final energy savings triggered by the project (GWh/year)
• Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (GWh/year)
• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (t CO2-eq/year)
• Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro)

Results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project. Proposals are not expected to address all listed impacts and indicators but should provide indicators specific to their proposed activities.

Important Conditions and Restrictions

Tool and Platform Development:Proposals are not expected to develop any new tools, databases, or digital platforms, unless their added value is clearly justified and their potential scale-up beyond the project convincingly addressed.

Use of Established Practices:Proposals should demonstrate that their concept makes strong use of established successful practices developed in previous EU initiatives and projects (such as LIFE21-CET-GOV-NECPlatform) and/or other already existing national initiatives aiming at strengthening multilevel governance in national energy and climate policies.

Stakeholder Facilitation:Proposals should identify which stakeholders they would rely on to ensure a neutral facilitation process which allows to include all relevant stakeholders. The proposed approach should be fully participatory giving stakeholders an active role in the multilevel dialogues.

Eligible and Ineligible Activities

Eligible Activities:Personnel costs, subcontracting costs, travel and subsistence, equipment (depreciation or full cost depending on call specifications), other goods and services, and indirect costs at a flat-rate of 7% of eligible direct costs.

Ineligible Activities:Land purchase and volunteer work are not eligible under this call. Costs must be directly linked to action implementation and cannot include indirect costs. Deductible or refundable VAT is ineligible. Costs declared under other EU grants are ineligible except in specific cases (Synergy actions or combined with operating grants).

Application and Evaluation Process

Submission Requirements:Proposals must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline. Paper submissions are not accepted. Proposals must include Application Form Part A (administrative information), Application Form Part B (technical description, maximum 50 pages), detailed budget table, and participant information. The project acronym must include the word LIFE.

Evaluation Criteria and Scoring:

Proposals must pass individual thresholds for each criterion (minimum 10 points per criterion before weighting) and an overall threshold of 55 points (after weighting) to be considered for funding. Proposals with the same score will be prioritised according to their scores for the Impact criterion, then Relevance, then Quality, then Resources.

Evaluation Criteria Details

• Relevance: Relevance to LIFE sub-programme objectives and call priorities; soundness of overall intervention logic and concept/methodology
• Impact: Ambition and credibility of expected impacts; sustainability of project results after project end; quality of exploitation measures
• Quality: Clarity, relevance and feasibility of work plan; appropriate geographic focus; identification and mobilisation of relevant stakeholders; quality of impact monitoring and reporting plan; appropriateness of communication and dissemination measures
• Resources: Composition of project team in terms of expertise, skills and responsibilities; appropriateness of management structure; appropriateness of budget and resources; transparency of budget; value for money

Financial and Operational Capacity Requirements

Financial Capacity:Applicants must have stable and sufficient resources to successfully implement the project. Financial capacity checks will be conducted for coordinators (except public bodies and international organisations) and when the requested grant amount exceeds €60,000. Checks are based on neutral financial indicators and may consider dependency on EU funding, deficit and revenue in previous years.

Operational Capacity:Applicants must have the know-how, qualifications and resources to successfully implement the project, including sufficient experience in projects of comparable size and nature. Capacity is assessed through general profiles of responsible staff, description of consortium participants and their previous projects.

Exclusion Grounds:Applicants subject to EU exclusion decisions or in exclusion situations (bankruptcy, breach of social security/tax obligations, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, terrorism-related crimes, significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under EU contracts, irregularities, creation to circumvent legal obligations, or resistance to investigations) cannot participate.

Grant Agreement and Payment Terms

Grant Form and Type:The grant is an action grant in the form of a budget-based mixed actual cost grant, reimbursing only eligible costs actually incurred. The grant will be managed through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Payment Schedule:Payments typically include initial prefinancing (within 30 days of entry into force or when financial guarantee is provided), additional prefinancing (if applicable), interim payments (90 days from receiving periodic reports), and final payment (90 days from receiving final periodic report). The interim payment ceiling is typically 90% of the maximum grant amount.

Reporting Requirements:Beneficiaries must submit periodic technical reports and financial statements according to the schedule set in the grant agreement. Continuous reporting through the Portal is required for deliverables. Final reports must be submitted within 60 days of the project end date. Certificates on financial statements may be required if the requested EU contribution reaches €500,000.

No-Profit Rule:Grants may not produce a profit. For-profit organisations must declare their revenues, and if there is a profit, it will be deducted from the final grant amount.

Key Obligations and Compliance

Intellectual Property Rights:Beneficiaries own the results of the action. The granting authority has rights of use on materials, documents and information for policy, information, communication, dissemination and publicity purposes. Background materials must be identified and access rights agreed upon.

Communication and Dissemination:Beneficiaries must communicate and disseminate project results to promote the action and maximise impact. The visibility of EU funding must be ensured through appropriate use of the European flag and funding statement. All public deliverables must be available in English and at least two other EU official languages.

Data Protection and Confidentiality:Beneficiaries must comply with EU data protection regulations. Sensitive information must be protected. Classified information must be handled according to applicable rules. Confidentiality obligations apply for 5 years after final payment.

Record-Keeping and Audits:Beneficiaries must keep records and supporting documents for 5 years after final payment (or 3 years for grants not exceeding €60,000). The granting authority, European Commission, OLAF, EPPO and the European Court of Auditors have the right to conduct checks, reviews, audits and investigations.

Conflict of Interest:Beneficiaries must avoid conflicts of interest and inform the granting authority of any situations that could constitute a conflict. Subcontracting and purchasing must be done using the beneficiary's usual practices ensuring best value for money and no conflict of interest.

Support and Resources Available

Guidance Documents:The following documents are available on the Portal Reference Documents section: Call document, Application form templates, Detailed budget table, Participant information form, Model Grant Agreements (LIFE MGA), LIFE Multiannual Work Programme 2025-2027, LIFE Regulation 2021/783, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA (Annotated Model Grant Agreement), and Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual.

National Contact Points:Applicants are encouraged to contact their National Contact Point (NCP) for guidance on the call and support in proposal preparation.

IT Helpdesk:The IT Helpdesk provides support for technical aspects of submission, forgotten passwords, access rights and roles.

Key Considerations for Applicants

This is a highly competitive call with only 1 grant to be awarded from a €2 million budget. Successful proposals will demonstrate strong alignment with the call objectives, clear understanding of multilevel governance challenges in their target countries, and realistic plans to establish or strengthen permanent climate and energy dialogues. Proposals should build on existing successful practices and initiatives, involve relevant stakeholders from the outset, and provide clear evidence of how results will be sustained beyond the project period. Geographic diversity and focus on countries with less developed multilevel dialogue structures will be prioritised. The consortium must be well-balanced with complementary expertise in energy policy, governance, stakeholder engagement and communication.

Footnotes

1. 1The Governance Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 sets out the rules for planning, reporting and monitoring on the Energy Union and Climate Action. It requires Member States to establish permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues and prepare National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) that must evolve into strategic investment plans for the post-2030 period.