Brussels, 09/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission announced that in 2003 it will be part-funding nearly 200 environmental projects for a total of EUR 146.5 million.
Under LIFE-Environment it will fund 104 environmental innovation projects for a total of EUR 69 million. The projects selected will be carried out by fourteen EU Member States (all except Luxembourg) and six candidate countries (Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. This year, waste management and integrated production policy sectors predominate in terms of the number of projects selected and the EU funding allocated. The other projects will cover promoting the integration of environmental considerations into land-use development (eco audits, eco design and eco labelling), planning and urban management; encouraging sustainable management of water resources; preventing, recycling and re-using waste; mitigating the environmental impact of economic activity in coastal zone management, tourism or other areas of land-use development and planning, air quality and noise abatement.
Under the LIFE Programme, the Commission will co-fund 77 nature conservation projects in 12 Member States and 6 candidate countries. This year's projects will further contribute to the establishment of the EU-wide Natura 2000 network through the physical restoration of protected areas, the establishment of sustainable management structures and the strengthening of public awareness. The successful projects are sites proposed by Member States under the Habitats Directive (92/43); sites classified as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive (279/409); or species of flora and fauna considered important in the EU. The participation of candidate countries in LIFE-Nature will help them prepare for practical implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives.
Under LIFE-Third Countries, the Commission will co-fund 17 projects in eleven "third" countries (Algeria, Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia and Turkey) of a total of EUR 6.5 million. The projects will help improve the environment through capacity building and the establishment of administrative structures (development of institutions, policies, monitoring tools, training facilities, networks and data bases), as well as the development of environmental policies and action programmes in these countries. The projects will receive this financial support upon their compliance with the administrative and financial provisions.
The selected projects have capacity building as their main objective (development of institutions, policies, monitoring tools, training facilities, networks and data bases) and cover a wide range of themes from water and solid waste management to nature and bio-diversity conservation (wetlands, marine environment etc.). Some projects promote alignment with EU environmental regulations or co-operation at regional or international level.