The 4th Call of the EU City Facility was open from June 9th to September 30th, and has received a total of 129 applications from all across Europe. The highest number of applications came from Central and Eastern Europe (67), followed by Southern Europe (35) and Nordic Countries and Western Europe (27). In terms of countries, the highest number of applications came from Poland, followed by Bulgaria, Italy and Belgium.
Out of the 129 applications, 48 will soon be selected as EUCF beneficiary, to receive a lump sum of EUR 60,000 for the development of an investment concept for their local sustainable energy project. Successful EUCF beneficiaries will then use the grant to create investment concepts, including (technical) feasibility studies and a variety of key analyses focusing on their projects and the overall market, stakeholders, legal, economic and financial aspects.
The EUCF grant is not meant to directly finance investments and is rather used to access services and develop an investment concept, which may open doors for follow-up investments. The results of the 4th call will be communicated to the selected applicants towards the end of the year and will be published on the EUCF website. As with the previous calls, beneficiaries will also benefit from our upcoming matchmaking and other community events where they can learn from other cities on how to attract investment.
Next steps
The EUCF evaluation team will now evaluate the submitted applications and select the beneficiaries on the basis of carefully developed criteria that can be consulted on the 4th Call information page.
Upcoming events
The EU City Facility team has also announced that it is participating at two events this October to which we invite all current EUCF stakeholders, including past calls beneficiaries, applicants and potential investors :
October 18th, in-person event in Brussels: We will have a session and a stand at the Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum (COMIF), which is being held in Brussels on October 18th 2022. Come to the event to meet three of our beneficiary municipalities, Schaerbeek (BE), Karlovac (HR) and Pinerolo (IT). More info and registrations here.
October 11th, online event at the EU Regions Week 2022. Focused on EU technical assistance to cities and the difference it makes for cities, including vision from the European Commission's LIFE programme and EIB. More information on the session and registrations here.
Make sure to follow this site and our Twitter account @eucityfacility for further updates.