Technical Assistance preparation of SNaPs

LIFE-2026 is a Technical Assistance call under the LIFE Programme to fund preparation of Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) proposals that implement Prioritised Action Frameworks, national restoration plans or other eligible nature and biodiversity strategies at large territorial scale. The topic has an indicative budget of €500,000 with a maximum EU contribution of €70,000 per project, a funding rate of 60% of eligible costs, and projects may run up to 24 months. Applications must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by 22 September 2026, 17:00 CEST, using the LIFE templates and respecting Part B page limits. Eligible applicants are legal entities established in EU Member States, EEA countries or countries associated to the LIFE Programme, and the competent authority for the targeted plan should normally participate as coordinator.

What it funds

Grants to prepare a Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) full proposal that implements a Priority Action Framework (PAF), national restoration plan or other eligible nature/biodiversity strategy at large territorial scale. Eligible preparatory activities include staff recruitment, consultant contracts for writing the concept/full proposal, data collection, financing plans, stakeholder mapping and coordination, and development/submission of the SNaP concept note and full proposal.

Who can apply

Public or private legal entities (authorities, administrations, NGOs, research organisations, SMEs, etc.) established in eligible countries (EU Member States, overseas territories and countries associated to LIFE). The authority responsible for the targeted plan/strategy should participate in the consortium, normally as coordinator.

Funding rate:60% of eligible costs; grant is budget-based (actual costs with possible unit/flat-rate elements).

1. 1Call opens: 21 April 2026; Deadline: 22 September 2026 17:00 Brussels time.
2. 2Project duration: up to 24 months (TA-PP projects typically 24 months).
3. 3Eligible scope: preparation only — the coordinating beneficiary must submit the resulting SNaP full proposal to the dedicated LIFE SIP/SNAP call before the TA-PP end date.
4. 4Applicants must submit electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal; use the LIFE TA-PP application templates and annexes.

Typical maximum contribution available for the NAT-SNAP topic is drawn from the topic budget above; individual grants will be awarded following evaluation and may be lower. For application details, templates and submission use the Portal Funding & Tenders Portal ¹.

Key eligibility and requirements

1. 1Coordinator must be established in an eligible country and participants must register in the Participant Register (PIC).
2. 2Proposals must address only one topic; consortium must include the authority responsible for the targeted plan/strategy (PAF or restoration plan) or justify its role.
3. 3Proposal page limits and templates must be respected (Part B page limit applies); supporting annexes include detailed budget, participant information and optional letters of support.

Evaluation uses standard LIFE TA-PP award criteria (Relevance, Quality, Resources) with thresholds and ranking; successful applicants enter grant preparation and legal/financial validation before signature.

Footnotes

1. 1Call topic and full documentation are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal topic page: LIFE-2026-TA-PP-NAT-SNAP topic.

Opportunity summary

This is a LIFE Programme call for Technical Assistance Projects (TA-PP) to prepare full Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) proposals. The TA grant finances preparatory work to produce a quality, eligible SNaP full proposal to be submitted to the dedicated LIFE Strategic Projects call (two-stage: concept note and full proposal). The TA supports preparation for SNaPs that implement a Prioritised Action Framework (PAF), national restoration plans or other formally adopted nature/biodiversity plans or strategies with measurable actions, at large territorial scale, involving all concerned stakeholders and including a coordination mechanism for mobilising complementary funding for implementation.

Call identifier and programme:LIFE-2026 — Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE), Type of action: LIFE Project Grants (LIFE-PJG), LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based [LIFE-AG].

Key dates:Opening date: 21 April 2026. Deadline for submission: 22 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. Single-stage submission (application for TA-PP). Indicative evaluation result: December 2026; Grant Agreement signature: Feb–Mar 2027.

Available budget and expected grant size:Total call budget for TA-PP topics: €1 000 000. Topic-specific indicative contributions: NAT-SNAP topic budget €500 000; expected maximum EU contribution per awarded TA-PP project under NAT-SNAP: €70 000. Expected project duration: up to 24 months.

1. 1Purpose: Fund preparatory actions required to produce a full SNaP proposal eligible for LIFE Strategic Projects (SNAPs).
2. 2Eligible scope: PAFs under Habitats Directive, national restoration plans under Nature Restoration Regulation, or other adopted nature/biodiversity strategies with clear actions and budgets.
3. 3Funding rate: 60% of eligible costs (TA-PP funding rate).
4. 4Project duration: normally up to 24 months (TA projects expected to prepare proposals for LIFE Strategic Projects planned in the next call cycle).

Detailed eligibility and application conditions

The call is managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Applications must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System using the specific LIFE application templates (Part A online; Part B PDF upload; mandatory annexes such as the detailed budget table and participant information). Paper submissions are not accepted. Applicants must register in the Participant Register (PIC) before submission and ensure legal entity validation and any required LEAR appointment. Proposals must respect page limits and layout rules described in the application templates and call document; Part B is limited to a maximum of 30 pages for this call (as stated on the topic page).

Eligible countries and participants:Beneficiaries must be legal entities established in eligible countries: EU Member States (including OCTs), EEA countries and non-EU countries associated to the LIFE Programme. Coordinators must be established in an eligible country. International organisations may participate. Natural persons are generally not eligible (except self-employed sole traders where applicable). Entities from non-associated third countries may exceptionally participate if their participation is essential, but they normally bear their own participation costs. Participation and validation rules are detailed in section 6 of the call document.

Eligible applicant types (detailed):Eligible applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) include public bodies, private legal entities, universities, research institutes, NGOs, non-profit organisations, authorities responsible for nature/biodiversity plans (recommended as lead/coordinator), and international organisations. Sole traders (self-employed natural persons) may be eligible in specific cases. Applicants from third countries associated to LIFE may apply under their association conditions.

Consortium and roles:TA-PP projects are designed to support authorities responsible for the target plan/strategy. The authority competent for nature/biodiversity and responsible for PAF implementation should participate in the consortium, preferably as coordinator. The coordinator represents the consortium to the granting authority and is responsible for reporting, distribution of payments, and overall coordination. Associated partners, subcontractors, affiliated entities, third parties providing in-kind contributions may be used as described in the call document and LIFE Model Grant Agreement. Financial support to third parties is NOT allowed under this call (explicitly stated).

What activities the TA-PP grant can fund

All activities funded must be directly linked to preparing a SNaP full proposal and must be new and additional to activities started before proposal submission. The TA-PP must enable submission of a full SNaP proposal before the end of the TA project. Examples of eligible activities include recruitment of new personnel for proposal development, contracting external experts to prepare concept notes and full proposal, data collection for proposal preparation (e.g., mapping funding sources), preparation of financing plans where not already present in the target PAF, stakeholder mapping and engagement, networking and coordination, and drafting and submission of the SNaP concept note and final full proposal. Ineligible activities include research activities, statutory responsibilities of competent authorities, activities carried out outside the project duration, and activities not aligned with the TA-PP objective.

Expected outputs and linkage to SIP/SNAP submission:The TA-PP project must deliver a quality, eligible SNaP full proposal (through the two-stage LIFE Strategic Projects selection process) that targets an approved PAF, national restoration plan or another eligible strategy. The coordinating beneficiary must submit the SNaP full proposal in response to the dedicated LIFE Strategic Projects call before the TA project end date. If the final SNaP fails eligibility or quality standards due to beneficiary negligence, the granting authority may recover prefinancing and declare TA project costs ineligible.

Funding, budget and cost rules

TA-PP grants are budget-based mixed actual cost grants. The funding rate for eligible costs is 60%. The call provides topic-level indicative budgets; the NAT-SNAP topic has an indicative topic budget of €500 000 and an expected maximum EU contribution for each TA-PP awarded under this topic of €70 000. Eligible cost categories follow the LIFE MGA rules (Personnel, Subcontracting, Purchases — travel, equipment, other goods/works/services — Indirect costs at a flat-rate, etc.). VAT rules, depreciation for equipment and specific unit cost rules (e.g. SME owner unit cost and volunteers unit cost where applicable) are defined in Annexes of the LIFE MGA and the call document. Financial support to third parties and land purchase are listed as not allowed for this call topic (financial support to third parties is explicitly not allowed). Indirect costs flat-rate applicable: 7% of eligible direct costs (subject to the call document).

Budget preparation and forms to submit:Applicants must complete Part A (online), Part B (technical description — PDF upload using the LIFE TA-PP template available in the Submission System), and mandatory annexes: detailed budget table (Excel template), participant information form (one per participant), and optional letters of support or other annexes. The detailed budget table requires breakdown of person-months per work package and beneficiary, personnel cost categories, subcontracting, purchases and other direct costs. Part B must follow the structured template (relevance, impact, implementation, resources, complementary funding) and respect page limits and layout (Part B limited to 30 pages for this topic).

Evaluation, award criteria and selection process

The call uses a single-stage submission and one-step evaluation. Proposals are first checked for admissibility and eligibility, then evaluated by an evaluation committee against award criteria. Evaluation thresholds and scoring are defined in the call document and the LIFE Call fiche. Invitation to grant preparation is not a formal commitment until legal checks and validations are completed (legal entity validation, financial capacity checks, exclusion checks).

Award criteria, scoring and thresholds:Award criteria (full proposals) — three equally weighted criteria: Relevance (0–20), Quality (0–20), Resources (0–20). Individual minimum threshold per criterion: 10 points. Overall pass score: 35 out of 60. Ranking is by total score; ex aequo ties are resolved by scores in Relevance, then Quality, then Resources.

Evaluation stages and timeline:Single-stage submission (one step evaluation). Indicative timeline: submission deadline 22 Sep 2026; evaluation results December 2026; Grant Agreement signature Feb–Mar 2027. Grant preparation includes legal entity validation, financial capacity assessment and may require prefinancing guarantees or additional conditions if assessed as necessary.

Operational rules, requirements and risks

Applicants must demonstrate operational capacity (relevant experience, team profiles), financial capacity (stable and sufficient resources) except where exemptions apply (public bodies or small grants below €60 000). Exclusion grounds apply (bankruptcy, fraud, grave professional misconduct, etc.). Project implementation must respect ethics, data protection, conflict of interest rules, and confidentiality/security rules where applicable. Beneficiaries must keep records and supporting documents for a number of years after project end (Data Sheet time-limits; commonly five years).

Forms of support and nature of the assistance:Nature of support: financial grant funding (60% reimbursement of eligible costs) for project preparation activities. The TA-PP provides money to beneficiaries; non-monetary assistance (advice from NCPs, guidance documents, IT helpdesk) is available but not part of TA funding. Financial support to third parties is not allowed under this topic.

Consortium requirement:TA-PP projects can be single-beneficiary or multi-beneficiary consortia, but the authority responsible for the targeted plan/strategy should participate and normally act as coordinator. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country. The call document and eligibility rules provide additional specifics on consortium composition.

Application structure, templates and administrative guidance

Applicants must use the submission templates available inside the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System. The required documents include Application Form Part A (online Part A screens), Application Form Part B (LIFE SIP/SNAP technical description template for TA-PP — PDF upload), detailed budget table (Excel), participant information template (Word/Doc), and any required annexes. The portal provides an Online Manual, FAQs, the LIFE Model Grant Agreement (MGA) and call documents. Applicants should not use the PDF templates on the topic page for actual submission — only the templates inside the Submission System are accepted. Consult National Contact Points (NCPs) for support and the IT Helpdesk for portal technical issues. Portal registration and PIC codes are mandatory. See the Portal for submission and validation rules. ¹

• Part A: Administrative data (filled in online).
• Part B: Technical description (PDF upload using the LIFE TA-PP Part B template).
• Annex: Detailed budget table (LIFE Excel template).
• Annex: Participant information template (one per participant).
• Optional annexes: Letters of support, other supporting documents.

How the application forms look and structure guidance (templates outline):Part B (Technical Description) uses the LIFE SIP/SNAP template and contains structured sections: Project summary; 1. Relevance (background, objectives, compliance with LIFE objectives, concept and methodology); 2. Impact (impact and ambition, sustainability, replication/upscaling); 3. Implementation (work plan, work packages, deliverables, timetable, stakeholder engagement, monitoring & evaluation, communication & dissemination); 4. Resources (consortium set-up, management, green management, budget summary, risk management); 5. Complementary funding (mapping and mobilisation of complementary measures and funding sources); 6. Other (ethics, security); 7. Declarations. Mandatory annexes include the detailed budget table (person-months by WP and beneficiary, personnel cost breakdown, subcontracting, other direct costs) and participant information (organisation description, key staff profiles, previous projects). Part B has page and formatting limits: use Arial 10 or above, A4, margins at least 15 mm; do not delete instruction text in the template. The Part B template contains mandatory work package guidance including mandatory WPs for sustainability/replication and complementary funds coordination for SNAPs.

Evaluation outcome, contract and payment regime

Successful applicants will be invited to grant preparation. Grant award is subject to legal entity validation, financial capacity assessment and exclusion checks. Depending on assessed financial capacity, prefinancing guarantees, enhanced financial responsibility (joint and several liability) or staged prefinancing may be required. Payments flow to the coordinator, who must distribute funds to beneficiaries without undue delay. The grant is budget-based (actual costs, with unit cost and flat-rate elements where applicable). Indirect costs are reimbursed at the flat-rate indicated in the call. There are no interim payments other than prefinancing; final payment follows submission of final periodic report and financial statements. If introduced in the grant, Certificates on Financial Statements (CFS) may be required above thresholds set in the Data Sheet.

Application stages and success rate:Application type: open single-stage competitive call (one submission stage). Number of formal evaluation stages: 1 evaluation stage (after admissibility/eligibility checks). Applicants achieving required thresholds will be ranked and may be invited to grant preparation. Success rates are not published for this specific topic; success depends on ranking and available topic budget. Reserve lists may be used if budget allows. The call document reserves the right not to award all funds or to redistribute budgets between topics depending on proposals received.

Risk factors, compliance and common pitfalls

Common reasons for rejection or problems include:missing or incomplete templates, failure to respect page/layout limits, lack of clear link to eligible PAF/plan/strategy (plan must be formally adopted by the full-proposal submission deadline), insufficient demonstration of involvement of competent nature/biodiversity authorities, inadequate operational capacity or experience, weak stakeholder engagement plan, poor quality work plan and budget inconsistencies. TA-PP beneficiaries must ensure the proposed SNaP will be eligible under the LIFE Strategic Projects call and that the coordinating beneficiary will submit the SNaP full proposal before the TA end date.

Categorisation answers (structured extraction)

1. 1Eligible Applicant Types: public bodies/authorities responsible for PAFs and nature plans, NGOs, universities and research institutes, SMEs and private legal entities, international organisations, non-profit organisations, affiliated entities. Natural persons generally not eligible (except self-employed sole traders where listed). The call strongly targets competent nature and biodiversity authorities as applicants or partners.
2. 2Funding Type: Grant (LIFE Project Grant — Technical Assistance Project).
3. 3Consortium Requirement: Single applicant allowed but typically consortium recommended; authority responsible for the plan/PAF should participate and preferably act as coordinator. Multi-beneficiary consortia acceptable. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country.
4. 4Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Eligible countries include EU Member States (including OCTs), EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme. Third countries not associated may exceptionally participate where essential; association agreements govern participation of partner countries.
5. 5Target Sector: Nature and biodiversity (environment; biodiversity policy and legislation; large-scale territorial restoration and mainstreaming).
6. 6Mentioned Countries: No specific Member States were singled out in the call text; references are to EU Member States, EEA countries and countries associated to LIFE. The portal and CINEA resources reference all EU/participating countries. (Region specified: EU/EEA and associated countries).
7. 7Project Stage: Preparation (proposal preparation / planning / pre-implementation). The TA is for writing and preparing SNaP concept note and full proposal (pre-submission stage).
8. 8Funding Amount: Topic budget for NAT-SNAP: €500,000. Maximum expected EU contribution per awarded TA-PP project: €70,000. Funding rate: 60% of eligible costs. Indicative number of grants per topic not fixed in text but budget and per-project maxima define likely number of awards.
9. 9Application Type: Open call, single-stage submission via Funding & Tenders Portal (electronic submission).
10. 10Nature of Support: Monetary grant funding (reimbursement of eligible costs). Non-monetary support available via programme guidance, NCPs and the Portal but not as part of grant award.
11. 11Application Stages: 1 stage for TA-PP submission; evaluation one-step. TA-PP aims to prepare a SNaP which will later follow the LIFE Strategic Projects two-stage submission (concept note then full proposal) in the 2027 call.
12. 12Success Rates: Not specified in call. Success depends on ranking against the topic budget and meeting thresholds (pass score 35/60, criterion minima 10/20). Historical success rates for LIFE TA calls vary; applicants should assume competitive selection.
13. 13Co-funding Requirement: Yes — TA-PP funding reimburses up to 60% of eligible costs; applicants must cover remaining 40% from other sources (own resources, national funds, or other complementary funding).

Templates and application form structure — guidance summary

Mandatory templates and documents (available in the Submission System):Standard Application Form (LIFE TA-PP Part A online and Part B PDF), Detailed Budget Table (LIFE Excel), Participant Information (LIFE Word template), Model Grant Agreement (LIFE MGA), and optional letters of support. The Part B structure and sections are specified in the SIP/SNAP application template and must be completed according to the call stage. Part B must include work package descriptions, milestones, deliverables, stakeholder engagement plan, sustainability/replication WP, complementary funding mapping (comprehensive list of complementary measures needed for full implementation of the targeted plan/PAF) and after-LIFE plan. The detailed budget table requires person-months per WP and beneficiary, personnel rates, subcontracting justification, purchase and other direct costs justification, and a reconciliation with the online summarised budget in Part A. The Participant Information form requires organisational descriptions, key staff profiles and previous projects (up to 5).

1. 1Part A (online): administrative data, summary budget, consortium participant PICs and roles.
2. 2Part B (PDF): technical description using LIFE SIP/SNAP template: Relevance, Impact, Implementation, Resources, Complementary funding, Declarations.
3. 3Detailed Budget Table (Excel): person-months allocation by WP and beneficiary, personnel cost breakdown, subcontracting, purchase costs details.
4. 4Participant Information (Word): organisation description, key staff, previous projects, affiliated entity information.
5. 5Annexes: letters of support (optional), complementary funding plan (mandatory to demonstrate mobilised or planned complementary measures), any legal documents required for entity validation.

Final summary — what is this opportunity about and how to explain it

This LIFE 2026 Technical Assistance call LIFE-2026 provides targeted grant funding to authorities and organisations to prepare high-quality Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) full proposals that implement approved Priority Action Frameworks (PAFs), national restoration plans or other formally adopted nature/biodiversity strategies at large territorial scales. The TA grant covers preparatory actions necessary to develop the concept note and full SNaP proposal (stakeholder engagement, data collection, financing plan development, recruitment of necessary staff or external experts, coordination mechanisms to mobilise complementary funding). The TA itself does not implement restoration projects but prepares the subsequent SNaP application that will request LIFE Strategic Project funding. Funding is delivered as a budget-based grant reimbursing eligible costs at 60% up to the per-project maximum indicated (expected €70,000 for TA projects under the NAT-SNAP topic) and projects typically run up to 24 months. Applications must be submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the official LIFE application templates and must demonstrate the involvement of competent nature/biodiversity authorities, a credible path to submission of an eligible SNaP full proposal within the TA duration, and a comprehensive plan for coordinating complementary funding for implementation of the targeted plan.

Where to apply and get help:Submit via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System (use the templates inside the Submission System). Support resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, LIFE call documents, the LIFE Model Grant Agreement, CINEA helpdesk (CINEA-LIFE-ENQUIRIES@ec.europa.eu), National Contact Points, and the IT Helpdesk for technical issues. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Submission and application templates are available inside the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System. See the topic page and the Online Manual on the Funding & Tenders Portal for specific templates and step-by-step submission guidance: EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Funding Opportunity Overview

This call provides financial support for the preparation of Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) proposals under the LIFE Programme. The Technical Assistance for Preparation of SNAPs (TA-PP-NAT-SNAP) is designed to help authorities responsible for implementing nature and biodiversity plans prepare high-quality SNaP proposals for submission to a dedicated LIFE call for SNAPs before the end of the TA-PP project.

Call Details

Call Reference:LIFE-2026

Programme:Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) 2021-2027

Type of Action:LIFE Project Grants (LIFE-PJG) - Technical Assistance Projects

Opening Date:21 April 2026

Submission Deadline:22 September 2026 at 17:00 CEST (Brussels time)

Submission Model:Single-stage submission

Funding Information

Total Call Budget:€500,000

Maximum EU Contribution per Project:€70,000

Funding Rate:60% of eligible costs

Expected Project Duration:24 months maximum

Project Scope and Objectives

The primary objective of a TA-PP-NAT-SNAP project is to prepare a high-quality, eligible Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) proposal. All activities undertaken must directly support this objective and contribute to its achievement. Projects must be new and additional to work undertaken or launched by the applicant prior to submission of the TA-PP proposal.

Eligible Target Plans and Strategies

SNaPs must target implementation of one or more of the following at large territorial scale with involvement of all concerned stakeholders and including a coordination mechanism for funding complementary measures:

• Prioritized Action Frameworks (PAFs) pursuant to Article 8 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive)
• National restoration plans pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on nature restoration
• Other plans or strategies adopted at international, national, regional or multiregional level by nature and biodiversity authorities intrinsically linked to implementation of EU nature and/or biodiversity policy or legislation with specific and measurable actions or targets with clear timeline and budget

Eligible Activities

TA-PP projects may include the following activities (non-exhaustive list):

• Recruitment of new personnel and training for SNAP proposal development and writing
• Contracting external assistance for SNAP concept note and full proposal development and/or writing
• Collecting data for SNAP preparation (e.g., on funding sources)
• Developing financing plans if not already part of the targeted PAF, action plan, or strategy
• Mapping complementary actions and potential funding sources
• Networking, consultation, and coordination for SNAP preparation and writing
• Mapping and engaging stakeholders to be involved in the forthcoming related strategic nature project
• Development, finalisation and submission of a SNAP concept note and full proposal

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Participants and Countries

Applicants must be legal entities (public or private bodies) established in eligible countries. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country. Eligible countries include EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories), listed EEA countries, and countries associated to the LIFE Programme. Entities from countries in ongoing negotiations for association may participate if the association agreement enters into force before grant signature.

Consortium Composition

TA-PP projects are designed to support authorities responsible for implementing the targeted plan, strategy, or action plan. The authority responsible for the plan or strategy should in principle participate as coordinator. In well-justified cases, it may participate as a partner but must be part of the TA-PP project consortium. The coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

Ineligible Participants

• Natural persons (except self-employed persons/sole traders)
• EU bodies (except European Commission Joint Research Centre)
• Entities subject to EU restrictive measures or EU conditionality measures
• Entities in bankruptcy, winding up, or similar procedures
• Entities in breach of social security or tax obligations
• Entities guilty of grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, or related crimes

Financial and Operational Capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient resources to successfully implement the project and contribute their share. Financial capacity will be assessed based on documents such as profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, and audit reports. The check is normally done for coordinators, except for public bodies or international organisations, or if the requested grant amount does not exceed €60,000. Operational capacity will be assessed based on competence, experience, and resources of the applicant and project team, including previous projects of comparable size and nature.

Budget and Cost Eligibility

Eligible Cost Categories

• Personnel costs: Employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons, SME owners and natural person beneficiaries (unit costs), and volunteers (if declared eligible in call conditions)
• Subcontracting costs: For action tasks, calculated on basis of actual costs incurred
• Travel and subsistence: Actual costs for travel, accommodation and subsistence
• Equipment: Depreciation costs only (portion corresponding to actual use during action duration)
• Other goods, works and services: Calculated on basis of actual costs incurred
• Indirect costs: Flat-rate of 7% of eligible direct costs (categories A-D, except volunteers costs and exempted specific cost categories)

Ineligible Costs

• Costs not complying with eligibility conditions
• Costs declared under other EU grants (except Synergy actions or combined with operating grants)
• Costs for staff of national administration for normal activities
• Travel and subsistence for EU institution staff or representatives
• Financial support to third parties (not allowed for this call)
• Land purchase costs (not allowed for this call)
• Deductible or refundable VAT
• Costs incurred during grant agreement suspension

Application and Submission Process

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline. Paper submissions are not accepted. Applicants must register in the Participant Register before submitting proposals.

Required Documents

• Application Form Part A: Administrative information about participants and summarised budget (filled in directly online)
• Application Form Part B: Technical description of the project (downloaded template, completed, and re-uploaded as PDF)
• Part C: Additional project data and contribution to EU programme key performance indicators (filled in directly online)
• Detailed budget table (mandatory annex)
• Participant information including previous projects (mandatory annex)
• Letters of support (optional)
• Other annexes (optional)

Page Limits:Maximum 30 pages for Part B. Evaluators will not consider additional pages.

Project Acronym Requirement:Must include the word LIFE

Evaluation and Award Procedure

Proposals will be evaluated in a single-stage process. An evaluation committee will assess all applications first for formal requirements (admissibility and eligibility), then for operational capacity and award criteria. Proposals will be ranked according to their scores.

Award Criteria and Scoring

Relevance criterion assesses relevance to LIFE sub-programme objectives, call priorities, concept and methodology, and soundness of intervention logic. Quality criterion evaluates clarity, relevance and feasibility of work plan, appropriate geographic focus, and identification and mobilisation of relevant stakeholders. Resources criterion assesses project team composition, appropriateness of budget and resources, transparency of budget, environmental impact considerations, and value for money.

Tie-Breaking Procedure

For proposals with the same score, priority order is determined successively by scores for Relevance criterion, then Quality criterion, then Resources criterion.

Grant Agreement and Implementation

Grant Form and Type

The grant is a budget-based mixed actual cost grant (actual costs with unit cost and flat-rate elements). It reimburses only eligible costs actually incurred, not budgeted costs. For unit costs and flat-rates, amounts are calculated as explained in the Grant Agreement.

Funding Rate:60% of eligible costs

No-Profit Rule:Grants may not produce a profit (surplus of revenues plus EU grant over costs). For-profit organisations must declare revenues and any profit will be deducted from the final grant amount.

Project Duration and Starting Date

The project duration should not exceed 24 months. The starting date will normally be after grant signature. A retroactive starting date can be granted exceptionally for duly justified reasons, but never earlier than the proposal submission date. The coordinating beneficiary must submit a full SNaP proposal in response to a dedicated LIFE call for SNAPs before the end of the TA-PP project.

Reporting and Payment Schedule

After grant signature, beneficiaries will normally receive prefinancing (typically 60% of the maximum grant amount) 30 days from entry into force or financial guarantee provision, whichever is latest. There will be no interim payments. Final payment will be made 90 days from receiving the final periodic report. Beneficiaries must submit periodic reports 60 days after the end of each reporting period.

Prefinancing Guarantees

If a prefinancing guarantee is required, it will be set during grant preparation and normally equal to or lower than the prefinancing amount. The guarantee should be in euro and issued by an approved bank or financial institution established in an EU Member State. Amounts blocked in bank accounts will not be accepted as financial guarantees.

Mandatory Conditions and Obligations

SNaP Proposal Quality Requirements

The SNaP proposal prepared within the framework of a TA-PP-NAT-SNAP project must be eligible for LIFE funding and demonstrate good quality. If the final SNaP proposal fails to meet eligibility and quality standards due to the beneficiary's poor performance, negligence, or errors, the granting authority reserves the right to recover any pre-financing provided and declare all TA-PP project costs ineligible ¹.

Consortium Agreement

For practical and legal reasons, it is recommended to set up internal arrangements (consortium agreement) to deal with exceptional or unforeseen circumstances. The consortium agreement allows customisation of the EU grant to consortium needs and can help protect beneficiaries in case of disputes.

Communication and Dissemination

Beneficiaries must promote the action and its results by providing targeted information to multiple audiences. All communication activities related to the action must acknowledge EU support and display the European flag and funding statement. A disclaimer must be included in all communication or dissemination activities stating that views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority.

Record-Keeping

Beneficiaries must keep records and supporting documents for at least 5 years after final payment to prove proper implementation of the action and justify amounts declared. For personnel costs, time worked must be supported by monthly declarations signed by the person and their supervisor, unless another reliable time-record system is in place.

Key Dates and Timeline

Support and Guidance

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will present virtual information sessions on the LIFE 2026 Calls for proposals during the EU LIFE 2026 info days from 28 to 30 April 2026. Registrations are open. Applicants should consult the LIFE website FAQs, contact their National Contact Point (NCP) for assistance, and review the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual for detailed guidance on the submission process.

Important Considerations for Applicants

• Complete applications sufficiently in advance of the deadline to avoid last-minute technical problems
• Ensure the targeted Prioritized Action Framework (PAF), plan, or strategy is eligible for a SNaP and will be formally adopted by the full-proposal submission deadline
• Verify that all consortium members are registered in the Participant Register before submission
• Ensure all participants comply with eligibility criteria and are not subject to exclusion grounds
• Provide accurate, complete and verifiable information in the application
• Confirm that no parts of the project have been or will be submitted for other EU grants (except Synergy actions)
• Ensure balanced project budget with sufficient other resources to implement successfully
• Maintain clear separation of costs if combining with EU operating grants
• Prepare consortium agreement covering internal organisation, decision-making, and dispute settlement
• Plan for sustainability and exploitation of project results after EU funding ends

Contact and Further Information

For individual questions on the Portal Submission System, contact the IT Helpdesk. For non-IT related questions, contact CINEA-LIFE-ENQUIRIES@ec.europa.eu. Questions should be sent at the latest 7 days before the submission deadline. Applicants should consult the Portal Topic page regularly for call updates and additional information. All proposals must be submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal at EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1This provision ensures that Technical Assistance projects result in high-quality SNaP proposals. Beneficiaries should carefully plan their TA-PP project to ensure the resulting SNaP proposal meets all eligibility and quality requirements. The granting authority will assess the final SNaP proposal quality and may recover pre-financing if standards are not met due to beneficiary performance issues.