Brussels, 3 July 2023 (MIA) - The European Commission is launching on Monday negotiations on the association to the LIFE programme for environment and climate with seven non-EU countries, including North Macedonia. 

The six other countries include Albania, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Israel, Moldova and Turkey, MIA reports from Brussels. 

According to the European Commission, joining LIFE will help these countries spread innovative environment and climate techniques, approaches and best practices that contribute to a climate-neutral, circular and resilient economy, and which protect and restore nature.

As part of the opening of the negotiations, Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Kaja Shukova is to meet with EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius. 

Ahead of today's launch of the negotiations, Sinkevičius stressed that environment and climate challenges have no borders.

"We can only tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution by acting together. By increasing substantially the number of countries participating in the LIFE programme, we put in action concrete cooperation and exchange of solutions beyond the EU for a healthy planet," Commissioner Sinkevičius added. 

Through this partnership, public and private organisations of these countries will be able to receive financial support for projects to develop and demonstrate eco-innovative techniques and approaches, promote best practices and behavioural changes, support the development, monitoring and enforcement of laws similar to the ones in EU, as well as plans and strategies that can contribute to implement these laws, and catalyse the large-scale deployment of successful solutions. 

The LIFE programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action running since 1992. It has co-financed more than 5,500 projects across the EU and beyond and has a funding of EUR 5.4 billion.

LIFE occupies a niche between EU programmes for research and innovation and large-scale financing programmes. As such, it bridges the gap between research and policy implementation, addressing the external factors related to environmental and climate innovations by testing and demonstrating practical solutions. 

The new LIFE Programme 2021-2027 allows non-European countries to join the program through bilaterally negotiated association agreements. Iceland joined the LIFE programme in September 2021, and last week, Ukraine signed an agreement to access the programme. 

Photo: European Commission and MIA archive