Persconferentie van - Kikis Kazamias, lid van de Europese Rekenkamer
LIFE is the Financial Instrument for the Environment. Directly managed by the Commission, LIFE is, in financial terms, the most important European instrument specifically dedicated to the environment and is therefore an essential tool for the implementation of the EU’s environmental policy.
The first projects financed by LIFE started in 1992 and continued under the subsequent specific LIFE instruments through to the third phase (LIFE III) for 2000-2006. The financial allocation for LIFE III was 957 million euro. A new LIFE phase - called LIFE+ - has allocated 2 143 million euro for the period from 2007 to 2013.
The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Commission’s management of the LIFE III (2000-2006) - Nature grants at the different phases of the project cycle in respect of the sustainability of the project results. The selection procedure for the new LIFE+ (2007-2013) was also audited and the Court’s observations will remain important for the new period, since the sustainability issues addressed also concern the new LIFE+instrument.
During the 2000-2006 period , LIFE-Nature financed 434 projects for an amount of 436 million euro which were implemented in 26 Member States. An amount of 850 million euro is earmarked for the 2007-2013 period for ‘‘Nature and Biodiversity’’. In fact, LIFE-Nature co-finances projects in the Member States, mainly in connection with the Natura 2000 network, in favour of the conservation of species and habitats. Such projects should have demonstrative added value and should contribute to the dissemination of best practice conservation methods and approaches.
The preliminary audit work carried out quickly confirmed that the supervision and management of LIFE-Nature is a complex process, since the projects financed:
deal with different situations from one site to another across the Union;
are run by a great variety of beneficiaries;
should have a sustained impact on the conservation of individual species and habitats; and
should add value, through dissemination of the results achieved (lessons learned and identified best practices).
Since 1992, the Commission has progressively developed and improved its management and control systems namely by taking into account the results of the Court’s previous audits, in particular Special Report No 11/2003.
I - The audit carried out
The audit evidence was obtained at the European Commission’s services and by visits to 35 projects in six Member States: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom. The outsourced monitoring and communication teams, the project evaluators, and the Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (acting under contract with the European Environment Agency) were also visited, as they are close partners of the Commission for the management and development of environmental issues.
II - Audit results
The audit concluded that, overall, the projects audited have contributed to the conservation of the targeted species and habitats, namely in the Natura 2000 sites, thus supporting the Member States and the efforts and volunteer work of EU citizens and their associations in their commitment to biodiversity conservation.
The following shortcomings were nevertheless highlighted in relation to the different phases of the management of the projects, as they affect the sustainability of their results:
(a) Selection procedure:
- imprecise , and reduced weight given to the relevant sustainability factors in project scoring for LIFE+;
- lengthy award decision-making process.
(b) Implementation and monitoring:
- insufficient focus on th e projects’ results (outcomes);
- management plans and contracts not systematically approved and implemented.
( c) Dissemination of results:
r elevant information, with potential added value, on individual projects not systematically made available to an interested public outside the immediate project neighbourhood (region or country) in respect of:
- the lessons learnt;
- the best practices identified; and,
- the detailed technical/scientific information acquired.
(d) Long-term management of the project results:
- limited information exists at the Commission on the results (outcomes) of the projects financed, since there is no ex-post follow-up procedure established for assessing the effectiveness of the projects financed;
- lack of an established set of appropriate indicators for evaluating the results achieved.
I II. Conclusions and recommendations
Summing up, a lthough significant progress has been achieved since the introduction of LIFE in 1992, there is still room for improvement in the Commission’s management and control systems to obtain an assurance that the conservation measures financed by the EU fulfil their objectives more effectively and are sustained after EU financing of the projects has ceased.
The Commission must ensure that only appropriately designed project proposals are approved and that they are implemented as foreseen. It must insist on the establishment of organisational and financial structures which are sufficient for sustaining the impact of projects financed by the EU.
It is recommended that the Commission should give further consideration to the various factors relevant to the sustainability of the project results, improve the dissemination of the knowledge acquired and set up a systematic follow-up of the projects after the final payment has been made.
