Call 7

Objective

The European City Facility (EUCF) aims to support municipalities and local authorities in developing Investment Concepts related to the implementation of actions identified in their climate and energy action plans. The ultimate objective of the EUCF is to build a substantial pipeline of sustainable energy investment projects across municipalities in Europe. 

Financial Support

The EUCF finances the development of an Investment Concept with a fixed grant of 60 000 EUR. 

Eligibility

The EUCF is open to all municipalities/local authorities, their groupings, and local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities from the 27 EU Member States, Iceland and Ukraine. Applicants are required to have a climate and/or energy plan. This includes SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans), developed within the Covenant of Mayors initiative, or other climate and/or energy plans with mitigation targets. 

Moreover, applicants have to demonstrate political commitment to the development of the Investment Concept through a letter of support, signed by the mayor or other relevant political representative.

The applicant must commit to the EUCF monitoring period of two years.

Link to Eligibility Check.

What can be financed

The EUCF finances activities, such as (technical) feasibility studies, market analyses, stakeholder analyses, legal, economic and financial analyses, risk analyses, etc., that are required to develop the investment concept. These activities can be delivered by in-house staff or subcontracted external experts. 

The grant cannot directly finance the actual investments, but it covers costs to mobilise resources and access services to develop an investment concept.

Criteria

Applications are evaluated based on 4 evaluation criteria: 

1. Ambition of the proposed investment concept
2. Governance structure for the development of the investment concept
3. Stakeholders’ engagement strategy
4. Coherence and plausibility

Please find the full details of the evaluation process in the Guidelines for applicants.

Advantages of Joint Applications

In line with the EUCF objectives, local authorities/municipalities are strongly encouraged to join forces and resources and submit joint applications, to increase the ambition of the application and increase the chances of success. 

Do you want to apply as a grouping? Check our website and see what you should consider when applying as a grouping.

Local public entities aggregating municipalities/local authorities are also eligible. A non-exhaustive list of potential eligible applicants included in this category can be found on the EUCF website in the above link. 

Timeline

The seventh EUCF call opens on the 15^th of October 2024, 00:00 (Brussels time). The deadline for submitting your application is on the 18^th of December 2024, 17:00 (Brussels time).

How to Apply

The overall application process consists of (1) an eligibility check and (2) an application form. Once successfully passing this eligibility check, performed by the applicants themselves directly on the EUCF website, the applicant will be directed to the online portal that includes the application form to be filled in and submitted.

The application form will be accessible online as of the 15^th of October 2024 via the EUCF website.

For more information on the Application Process, click here. 

Regional Calls

The EUCF calls are organised in parallel for three geographic regions including all eligible countries (EU 27 Member States, Iceland and Ukraine) as displayed in the map below.

Budget

This 7^th call will support the development of 71 investment concepts, with a total budget of EUR 4.260.000 allocated to the three regions according to the table below:

Expected output

The expected output is the developed Investment Concept, i.e. a document providing investors and financial institutions with necessary information to assess an investment project. 

Further information, support and FAQ

Please read the Guidelines for Applicants and the FAQs on the EUCF website, before applying. 

For specific queries, please contact the EUCF Helpdesk or the Country Expert, responsible for your country.