{"id":457981,"date":"2026-06-24T18:34:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/24\/litalia-e-altri-tre-paesi-ue-chiedono-di-garantire-il-programma-life-nel-prossimo-bilancio\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T18:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:52:08","slug":"italy-and-three-other-eu-countries-are-calling-for-the-life-programme-to-be-safeguarded-in-the-next-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/24\/italy-and-three-other-eu-countries-are-calling-for-the-life-programme-to-be-safeguarded-in-the-next-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy and three other EU countries are calling for the LIFE programme to be safeguarded in the next budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Merging the  LIFE <\/a>programme, the European Union\u2019s financial instrument for the environment and climate, into broader budget expenditure headings could result in a loss of visibility, funding, and on-the-ground action<\/span>. In short, there is a risk of subordinating \u201cenvironmental objectives to other priorities.\u201d This is the point that Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, and Spain (together with their respective regional governments and autonomous communities) will raise tomorrow (25 June) at the meeting of the European Union\u2019s Environment Council to be held in Luxembourg. There are two main concerns: on the one hand, the funding allocations set out in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028\u20132034; on the other, the integration of the programme into broader sections of the European Union budget. <\/p>\n

The four countries will therefore call for a discussion on the continuation of the LIFE programme in the future MFF for 2028\u20132034 and on the structure of the EU\u2019s financial instruments \u201cto ensure the effective implementation of environmental policy,\u201d in the areas of biodiversity and nature restoration. The funding initially earmarked in the 2028\u20132034 MFF <\/strong>\u201cis lower than the current levels<\/strong>,\u201d and this takes account of \u201cthe diversity of perspectives regarding its design, funding, and coordination with other programmes.\u201d Furthermore, in the debate on the EU\u2019s next multiannual financial framework, \u201cthere is a clear risk that specialised instruments and environmental ambition will be weakened\u201d because \u201cthe proposal to integrate the LIFE programme into broader financial frameworks, such as the European Competitiveness Fund, could lead to a loss of visibility, specific funding and the capacity for effective implementation on the ground, subordinating environmental objectives to other priorities,\u201d the four countries state in a joint document. <\/p>\n

According to the four countries, the EU is facing \u201ca threefold environmental crisis\u201d\u2014biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution\u2014which directly affects both the well-being of its citizens and the sustainability of its economic model. Initially, Brussels had shown itself to be ambitious, promoting financial instruments capable of translating objectives into concrete results<\/strong>. <\/strong>These included, for example, the European Green Deal<\/a>, that is, the package of strategic initiatives that set the EU on the path to a green transition, with the ultimate aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. <\/p>\n

The LIFE programme has also proved to be \u201ca key instrument for the effective implementation of the Union\u2019s environmental and climate policy.\u201d Since its creation in 1992, the regulation has \u201cco-financed over 6,000 projects and mobilised more than \u20ac12 billion,\u201d generating tangible solutions on the ground and contributing to the implementation of EU legislation for over thirty-four years. \u201cIts added value is clear\u201d for countries, for whom LIFE represents <\/strong>\u201cthe EU\u2019s only financial instrument dedicated exclusively to the environment and climate action<\/strong>.\u201d Its structure, \u201cbased on sub-programmes covering biodiversity, the circular economy, climate change, and the energy transition,\u201d also enables it to tackle complex and interlinked challenges. By combining \u201cfunding, regulatory implementation, capacity building, and cooperation between stakeholders,\u201d the programme thus becomes \u201ca genuine driving force behind the implementation of European policies on the ground<\/strong>.\u201d LIFE has therefore served as \u201ca pillar of multilevel governance, facilitating the participation of regional and local authorities, strengthening technical capacities and promoting the exchange of good practices between Member States,\u201d with an approach that has made it possible to \u201cvalidate innovative solutions at real-world scale and ensure their replicability, helping to bridge the gap between political ambition and the reality of implementation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Therefore, in the current debate on the MFF for the period 2028\u20132034, which aims to simplify and streamline the EU budget, there is a real risk<\/strong> \u201cthat specialised instruments and environmental ambition will be watered down<\/strong>.\u201d In this context, other institutions, such as the European Parliament, and a range of stakeholders at the regional and local levels, have also emphasised its importance and the need to ensure its continued presence in the future European budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the four Member States, there is a risk that \u201cenvironmental objectives will be subordinated to other priorities,\u201d as the funding initially earmarked in the 2028\u20132034 MFF is lower than the current level. The issue will be raised at tomorrow\u2019s Environment Council (25 June)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":457958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25706],"tags":[26180,25871,26897,26050,34608,26076,26077,33314,32274,29993,26870],"class_list":["post-457981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-economy-en","tag-austria-en","tag-climate-en","tag-consiglio-ambiente","tag-environment-en","tag-green-deal-europeo-en","tag-life-programme","tag-lussemburgo-en","tag-qfp-2028-2034-en","tag-spain-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457982,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457981\/revisions\/457982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}