EUCF applicants must comply with the following five eligibility criteria to be eligible for EUCF support:
Eligibility criteria | Requirement |
1. Type of eligible applicants | Following types of applicants are eligible for EUCF support:
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2. Country of eligible applicants | Applicants must be entirely located in:
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3. Commitment to sustainable energy and climate targets | Applicant must have a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) or other local climate and/or energy plan with mitigation targets. Please note that the corresponding SECAP or other climate and/or energy plan with mitigation targets must be submitted with the EUCF application form. |
4. Political commitment | EUCF applicants must be able to demonstrate political commitment to develop the investment concept through a letter of support by the Mayor or by another relevant political representative. Please note that a letter of support to the development of the investment concept must be submitted with the EUCF application form. A template is provided by the EUCF and must be mandatorily used for the application. |
5. Commitment to monitoring period | EUCF applicants must demonstrate commitment to the monitoring period of two years after the final submission of the investment concept. Please note that this requirement will be part of the EUCF Grant Agreement for awarded applicants. The monitoring period starts one year after the submission of the investment concept by EUCF beneficiaries. |
The eligibility check is available on the EUCF website.
To be eligible for the EUCF, applicants must have a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SECAP) developed within the framework of the Covenant of Mayors or another local climate and/or energy plan with mitigation targets included. In the application, applicants will be required to submit the required plan and briefly describe it, as well as to provide at least one mitigation target established in the plan for the municipality/local authority, grouping or local public entity aggregating municipalities/local authorities. SECAPs or other local climate and/or energy plans can be submitted in the national language.
In order to demonstrate political commitment to the development of the investment concept, the EUCF applicant must submit with the application form a letter of support to the development of the investment concept signed by the Mayor or other relevant political representative. The letter of support must be submitted in English. A template is available for the letter on the EUCF website and must be mandatorily used for the submission.
The EUCF monitoring period has a duration of two years, in which the implementation of the investment concept is supervised and documented. During this period, beneficiaries are asked to notify the EUCF on the implementation process by submitting two simple monitoring forms - after one and two years, respectively - on key figures, which are used to assess the impacts of the EUCF.
No. There are no limitations or requirements regarding the population size of municipalities/local authorities, their groupings and local public entities applying for EUCF support. Smaller municipalities/local authorities are encouraged to apply for EUCF support.
No, only municipalities/local authorities, their groupings and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities can apply for EUCF support. Public-owned companies or utilities are not eligible for EUCF support. These can, however, be involved as stakeholders in the investment project proposed by the applicant municipality/local authority or local public entity, e.g. in energy performance contracting schemes for the implementation of energy efficiency measures.
Yes, any municipality/local authority, grouping or local public entity aggregating municipalities/local authorities located in Outermost Regions (OR) of the eligible countries can apply for EUCF support. Eligible countries for the EUCF are the EU-27 Member States, Iceland and Ukraine. Please note however, that municipalities/local authorities or local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities located in Overseas countries and territories (OCT) are not eligible for EUCF support.
Applicants can see the results of the eligibility check on the screen immediately after answering all the questions. To be eligible, applicants must be able to answer YES to all 5 requirements. After successfully passing the eligibility check, the applicant is able to register on the EUCF website user zone.
After successfully passing the eligibility check, applicants automatically receive login details to access the EUCF website user zone. There, applicants can complete and submit the online application form together with the supporting documents.