Guidance

Funding for UK LIFE projects if there’s a no-deal Brexit

Updated 19 December 2018

This guidance was withdrawn on 21 May 2020

See guidance on the UK’s continued participation in EU programmes.

Purpose

This notice sets out how UK organisations receiving funding under the EU LIFE programme would be affected if there is a no-deal Brexit. It explains what this would mean for existing projects due to finish after exit day and for organisations applying for projects funded after this date.

Before exit day

The LIFE programme is an EU fund supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU. It is funded and administered by the European Commission. The UK is currently a net contributor to the EU budget, and all EU funding is derived from funding by UK taxpayers.

Currently, UK organisations submit bids directly to the LIFE fund on a competitive basis for a variety of projects focused on environmental and climate action. Projects usually last between 3 and 5 years, with funding paid by the European Commission in stages throughout the project. Project payments are currently made directly from the Commission to the organisation leading the project, with no involvement by the UK government. On average, five UK-led projects are awarded LIFE funding each year.

In a negotiated scenario, UK-based organisations will be able to continue to participate in the LIFE programme until the end of 2020 as they do now, and successful projects agreed within this timeframe will be fully funded by the European Commission until they finish. The UK government is considering how environmental projects can be best supported in future when the UK is no longer part of the European Union.

After a no-deal Brexit

If UK leaves the EU with no deal in place, the UK government has guaranteed to fund the following:

• LIFE project bids submitted by UK organisations and approved by the European Commission while the UK is still a member of the EU
• LIFE funding due to UK organisations acting as partners in projects led by other member states - this covers ongoing projects, and those awarded funding before the end of 2020

This means that, if required, the UK government would take over any remaining payments due to UK organisations involved in LIFE projects after exit day, ensuring an uninterrupted flow of funding to these projects until they finish.

Payments due to be made to project leads after exit day may no longer come from the European Commission, and so would need to be made by the UK government via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the relevant devolved administrations.

Defra has contacted the small number of organisations in England leading LIFE projects due to be running after 31 October 2019 to request copies of project grant agreements, to inform contingency planning. Projects do not need to take any further action at present. The devolved administrations are making similar arrangements for projects where the lead partner is legally based within their countries. The UK government is considering how environmental projects can be best supported in future when the UK is no longer part of the European Union.

The guarantee does not cover funding for organisations from countries in consortia with UK participants – only the funding for UK participants is in scope. The UK government is aware of some cases where UK participants lead a consortium and are responsible for distributing funding to the other participants. The UK government is still working with the European Commission to decide how to deal with this in a no-deal scenario

Further information

Further information can be found on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website. JNCC provides the National Contact Point service for LIFE in the UK.

Organisations can contact JNCC UKLIFE@jncc.gov.uk if they have further questions, or look on the JNCC website for more information about the fund.

If you are a UK partner in a LIFE project led by another Member State and have concerns, please contact Defra at DefraLIFE@defra.gov.uk.

This notice is meant for guidance only. You should consider whether you need separate professional advice before making specific preparations.

It is part of the government’s ongoing programme of planning for all possible outcomes.

The UK government is clear that in this scenario we must respect our unique relationship with Ireland, with whom we share a land border and who are co-signatories of the Belfast Agreement. The UK government has consistently placed upholding the Agreement and its successors at the heart of our approach. It enshrines the consent principle on which Northern Ireland’s constitutional status rests. The UK government recognises the basis it has provided for the deep economic and social co-operation on the island of Ireland. This includes North-South cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which we’re committed to protecting in line with the letter and spirit of Strand two of the Agreement.

The Irish government has indicated they need to discuss arrangements in the event of no-deal with the European Commission and EU member states. In this scenario the UK would engage constructively to meet its commitments and act in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland, recognising the very significant challenges that the lack of a UK-EU legal agreement would pose in this unique and highly sensitive context.

It remains, though, the responsibility of the UK government, as the sovereign government in Northern Ireland, to continue preparations for the full range of potential outcomes, including no-deal. The UK government will take full account of the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland.

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and participate in other EU arrangements. As such, in many areas, these countries adopt EU rules. Where this is the case, these technical notices may also apply to them, and EEA businesses and citizens should consider whether they need to take any steps to prepare for a ‘no-deal’ scenario.