LIFE European City Facility: 5th Call for Applications

The fifth EUCF application period is now open from April 28 to June 30 2023. Municipalities and local authorities, their groupings and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities from the EU member states (EU-27), as well as Iceland and Ukraine, can apply for EUCF funding during this period.

The fifth EUCF call for applications is the first under the framework of the European Union LIFE Programme. Building on the success and lessons learned in the first four calls, the EUCF aims for an appropriate follow-up and upscale of its support, by continuing its relevance for European municipalities and local authorities.  Beneficiaries of the EUCF are provided with a tailored, fast and simplified financial support in the form of lump sums of EUR 60,000 as well as technical assistance and capacity building services. The objective is to enable beneficiary municipalities and local authorities, groupings or local public entities  to develop sound investment concepts in the field of of sustainable energy, that allow them to leverage funding from investors for the implementation of the proposed project.

The rationale behind the EUCF

Within the framework of the European Green Deal, the European Union has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to the reference values of the 1990s, and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. In order to support these targets,  municipalities and local authorities in Europe have made ambitious commitments to significantly reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. However, they often do not have sufficient technical and financial resources to implement the actions envisaged in their local climate and energy plans and lack capacities to access financing opportunities for their projects.  

The EUCF aims to bridge the gap between a sustainable energy project idea and its financing and implementation . With the financial support provided by the EUCF grant, beneficiaries have the opportunity to conduct the activities necessary for the development of credible, robust and sufficiently mature  investment concepts, including feasibility studies, market analyses, financial assessments, stakeholder and risk analysis, among others.

The EUCF application process

As in the previous calls, the EUCF application process involves two steps:

1. Eligibility check
2. Application

In order to verify eligibility, an automated online test is used to directly validate whether the applicant is eligible for EUCF support. To be eligible, the applicant must be able to answer all five questions affirmatively.

Eligible applicants must then register in the EUCF User Zone to fill the online application form and submit the required supporting documents for the application. Detailed information about the application and evaluation processes can be found in the EUCF Guidelines for Applicants. Once the application period is closed, all applications are be evaluated by a dedicated team.

Applications for the fifth EUCF call can be submitted from 28 April 2023, 00:00 (Brussels time) until 30 June 2023, 17:00 (Brussels time). Support is provided in English through the EUCF Helpdesk and in national language by the EUCF country experts

adelphi research's involvement in the EUCF

As part of the EUCF Team, adelphi research is responsible for developing the workflows and documents required for the application, evaluation, investment concept development and validation and monitoring processes of the EUCF. Furthermore, adelphi research is involved in the day-to-day operation of the facility, ensuring that all processes and workflows run smoothly and participating in the evaluation of applications and validation of the investment concepts developed by beneficiaries.

More information:

Online application

EUCF website

EUCF guidelines for applicants

Contact: Carolin Anders