Clarification on the Eligibility of French Local Authorities

Due to the categorization of local authorities in France into metropoles and other inter-municipal authorities, the EUCF team decided to issue a clarification addressed to all French local authorities that are interested in applying for EUCF.

La European City Facility (EUCF) s’adresse aux municipalités (et aux autorités locales opérant au niveau municipal), qui sont répertoriées dans le fichier Excel officiel d’EUROSTAT (colonne C du «Tableau de correspondance LAU – NUTS 2016, UE-28 et AELE / Pays candidats disponibles» d’EUROSTAT), et qui ont un SEAP / SECAP ou d’autres plans d’action d’ambition similaire.

Dans un souci de transparence et d’équité, le processus d’évaluation des candidats EUCF est basé sur des indicateurs comparables, tels que le code LAU.

EUROSTAT rassemble les codes LAU des autres États membres de l’UE et du Royaume-Uni avec le code LAU 2 des municipalités françaises.

Clarification on the Eligibility of French Local Authorities

The EUCF addresses municipalities (and local authorities operating at the municipal level), which are listed in the official EUROSTAT Excel file (column C of the EUROSTAT “Correspondence table LAU – NUTS 2016, EU-28 and EFTA / available Candidate Countries”), and which have a SEAP/SECAP or other action plans of similar ambition.

As a matter of fairness and equity, the evaluation process for EUCF applicants is based on comparable indicators, such as the LAU code.

EUROSTAT collates the LAU codes of other EU Member states and the UK with the LAU Code 2 of French municipalities.

This implies that only municipalities (Communes) with LAU Code 2 are eligible.

However, other French authorities are not excluded from the EUCF application. Instead, they can benefit from the EUCF being involved as a grouping:

• The grouping will elect a lead applicant, which means an authority with LAU code 2, which will lead the project;
• All the authorities with LAU 2 code affected by the project will be added as members of the grouping;
• In the section “allocation of funds” of the full application form, the lead applicant will select the voice “other”;
• In the text box that will appear after the above selection, the lead applicant will state that the community/association will carry out part/all the activities.

For further information, please read section 2 of the guidelines for applicants and FAQ5.