Scoring system: the DNSH principle in the ERDF/ESF + multi-fund program 2021-2027 of Lower Saxony

By project GreenGov

Published on 20 March 2025

Germany

Hannover

About this good practice

According to Regulation 2021/1060 on common provisions for EU funding, the cross-cutting objective of Sustainable Development (SD) is applied in the 2021-27 period. Lower Saxony defines SD broadly, including the six EU Taxonomy environmental objectives and the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle.
The SD principle has been integrated as cross-cutting objective into the mandatory scoring system in the project selection phase within the regional ERDF/ESF+ programme with a single approach.
The 100 points available for the evaluation of projects are divided into two blocks: "directive-specific technical criteria", which account for the largest part of the evaluation, and "horizontal objectives" (including SD). For regionally significative measures, a further evaluation, the regional technical component is considered.
The cross-cutting objectives are taken into account in each guideline.
For infrastructure and major investment projects, all the six objectives of the DNSH principle are included, and a minimum score is set for the environmental sustainability (“priority cross-cutting objective”).
This ensures that only projects contributing positively to SD are selected and that the requirements of the DNSH principle are met.
The scoring system is developed by the Managing Authority and the thematic competent Ministries and is approved by the ERDF/ESF+ Monitoring Committee. A subcommittee focusing on SD coordinates activities across civil society, economics, and research.

Resources needed

An external consulting agency was involved for the assessment of the ERDF/ESF+ multifond programme compliance with the DNSH principle.
The implementation of the scoring principle was coordinated by thematic experts working in the administrative body of the ERDF/ESF+ multifond programme.

Evidence of success

The cross-cutting objective of sustainable development applies to each directive and is automatically applied in each call for proposals within the framework of the ERDF/ ESF+ funding period. This enables a standardised operationalisation across all funding calls. A higher weighting of the SD cross-cutting objective enables to emphasise the relevance of DNSH compliance for big infrastructure projects, which could potentially harm the environment.

Potential for learning or transfer

Lower Saxony's approach to applying the DNSH principle, integrated with the horizontal principle of sustainable development, can be of interest to other managing authorities of EU funds in Europe.
The adopted solution ensures that compliance with the DNSH principle is checked for all relevant projects; for infrastructure projects and larger investments at risk of non-compliance with the DNSH, a minimum score on the SD criterion is required for funding eligibility. This results in a proportionate approach to the evaluation of DNSH.
At the same time, the approach ensures flexibility by allowing beneficiaries to choose the criteria to be met in their project from a set of action-specific examples defined in the scoring sheets.
We are willing to improve the measurability of the actions that applicants commit to implement in order be scored on the DS criterion. The issue of measurability and ex-post assessment are the main tools we need to work on.