Multilevel climate and energy dialogue to deliver the Governance Regulation and the post–2030 energy and climate policy framework
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The LIFE Programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value. After 22 years, €3.4 billion and 4.170 projects, the LIFE Programme continues to finance actions for the environment and climate action.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The contracting authority expects to award only 1 grant under this funding topic.
The Governance Regulation sets out the rules for planning, reporting and monitoring on the Energy Union and Climate Action. It requires Member States to ensure reasonable timeframes for the public to be informed, to participate, and to express their views in the preparation of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and Long-Term Strategies. It also requires Member States to establish a permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogue bringing together local authorities, civil society organisations, the business community, investors and other relevant stakeholders to discuss energy and climate policies.
However, the 2025 European Commission EU-wide assessment of the final NECPs found that implementation of these provisions has been uneven across Member States. The European Commission encourages them to maintain and improve dialogue processes at all levels of society to ensure effective implementation of policies. This involves coordinating different governance layers alongside civil society organisations, business community, investors and other relevant stakeholders – in view of the update of the NECPs and for their monitoring and reporting, foreseen every other year.
The upcoming revision of the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action planned for Q4 2026 will review the NECPs as a governance tool for the post-2030 period. In this context, the European Commission will work to simplify, strengthen and modernise the referred regulation. The NECPs must evolve into strategic investment plans that foster investment predictability and credibility, consumer confidence, innovation and market growth for clean technologies.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should
- Establish a permanent dialogue and create/strengthen structured synergies between different administrative levels (regions, cities, national governments) and stakeholders to reach ambitious and shared decarbonisation targets. The aim is to better define the role and contribution of the regional/local level to the national energy and climate policies, ensuring complementarity among various actors and political leadership to provide legitimacy and continuity to the dialogue process.
- Increase co-definition and coherence of strategies and measures at different governance levels, and improve reporting schemes at local level (e.g. Heating and Cooling plans, Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs), European Energy Award (EEA), etc.) and national level (e.g. NECPs, National Building Renovation Plans, Social Climate Plans) to support the Energy Union Governance Regulation, increase sharing of good practices, institutionalise the improved governance processes and strengthen political commitment.
- Deliver governance or process models to allow for robust and consistent reporting mechanisms, integrating vertical and horizontal administrative layers and delivering innovative monitoring and verification schemes mixing different approaches (e.g. top-down and bottom-up) and applying such models for the updating of NECPs in appropriate time horizon.
- Make links to other ongoing initiatives and existing dialogue fora aimed at enhancing and implementing connected and relevant policies (e.g. National Building Renovation plans, Social Climate Plans) and / or initiatives (e.g. national hubs of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition).
Proposals are not expected to develop any new tools, databases, or digital platforms, unless their added value is clearly justified and their potential scale-up beyond the project convincingly addressed.
Proposals should seek to ensure the sustainability of the newly created dialogue structures or strengthen existing dialogue structures in the long-term, e.g. through their institutionalisation. Proposals should demonstrate that their concept makes strong use of established successful practices developed in previous EU initiatives and projects[4] and/or other already existing national initiatives aiming at strengthening multilevel governance in national energy and climate policies.
Proposals should aim to establish or strengthen permanent multilevel climate and energy dialogues in 6 to 10 EU Member States. They should provide a clear rationale for the selection of each country, including the current level of development of multi-level climate and energy dialogue, an analysis of existing mechanisms and how the proposed activities will complement them. Priority will be given to proposals focusing on geographic areas in which multi-level climate and energy dialogue are less developed. Proposals should identify which stakeholders they would rely on to ensure a neutral facilitation process which allows to include all relevant stakeholders. The proposed approach should be fully participatory giving stakeholders an active role in the multilevel dialogues.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
90%
Thematic Categories
- Energy
- Environment and Climate Change
- Public Administration
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Legal Entities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme
- the coordinator must be established in an eligible country
Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Τμήμα Περιβάλλοντος
Υπουργείο Γεωργίας, Αγροτικής Ανάπτυξης και Περιβάλλοντος
Άτομα Επαφής
Μαριλένα Παπασταύρου
Λειτουργός Περιβάλλοντος, Εθνικό Σημείο Επαφής για το Περιβάλλον
Τηλέφωνο: +357 22 408 926
Ηλεκτρονική Διεύθυνση: mpapastavrou@environment.moa.gov.cy
Χρυστάλλα Παπασταύρου
Λειτουργός Περιβάλλοντος, Εθνικό Σημείο Επαφής για το Κλίμα
Τηλέφωνο: +357 22 408 926
Ηλεκτρονική Διεύθυνση: cpapastavrou@environment.moa.gov.cy
Department of Environment
Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment
www.lifecyclamen.com.cy
Persons to Contact
Marilena Papastavrou
Environment Officer, National Contact Point for Environment
Telephone: +357 22 408 926
Email: mpapastavrou@environment.moa.gov.cy
Chrystalla Papastavrou
Environment Officer, National Contact Point for Climate
Telephone: +357 22 408 962
Email: cpapastavrou@environment.moa.gov.cy