The EEA Financial Mechanisms consist of the EEA Grants and the Norway Grants. They represent opportunities for public, private and civil actors in 15 European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Norway reaches out to a number of potential beneficiaries, such as municipalities, regional and central government, education/research institutions, environmental bodies, NGOs, public-private partnerships, health institutions and more.
Through the EEA Financial Mechanisms Norway contributes 1.134 billion euros to promote economic and social cohesion in the enlarged EU, and to enhance the ability of the new EU/EEA countries to participate fully in the internal market. Another goal is to strengthen Norway’s bilateral relations with the beneficiary states. The EEA financial mechanisms were established in 2004, when the EU and the EEA (the European Economic Area) were enlarged by 10 countries, and will run until 2009. Project proposals must be submitted to the authorities in the beneficiary states for national appraisal before they are forwarded to the donors for decision.
EEA Grants and Norway Grants: Supporting civil society in Europe
Detailed information, rules, procedures and guidelines, as well as the Memoranda of Understanding between the beneficiary states and the donors, are available at www.eeagrants.org
EEA GRANTS STATUS REPORT - May 2007
EEA GRANTS STATUS REPORT - May 2009
EAA GRANTS STATUS REPORT - May 2010
The NGO fund
Strengthening civil society and improving the capacity of non-governmental organisations are given special attention under both the EEA Grants and the Norway Grants. NGO funds are launched in all ten beneficiary states. Civil society organisations across the beneficiary states and in the donor states have eagerly anticipated this contribution to civil society development in Central and Southern Europe. In total, the NGO funds have provided around €70 million to the development of civil society, which comes on top of the opportunities offered under ordinary calls for proposals.
The NGO funds have been of great importance to the civil societies of the beneficiary states in the five-year period from 2005-2009. With the approval of the Polish €41.5 million NGO fund in February 2007, the biggest ever of its kind in Poland, the polish civil society have experienced new opportunities for development. The Polish fund follows the approval of a € 10 million NGO-fund in the Czech Republic, a € 5.85 million NGO fund in Latvia, a € 5.6 million NGO- fund in Lithuania and a € 5.9 million NGO fund in Slovakia. The NGO funds in Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia were launched with great interest in late 2007.
General information on the NGO Funds
The NGO Grants Guideline
Cooperation programme with Romania and Bulgaria:
In July 2007, agreements to include Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area (EEA) were signed. Following this enlargement, Norway is granting €68 million through a new set of Cooperation Programmes with the two new member states.
The objective with the cooperation programmes with Bulgaria and Romania is to stimulate economic growth and sustainable
development, and to promote innovation and technology transfer.
Consequently, the programmes will prioritise sectors in which Norway
has specific competencies and technologies, and the Beneficiary States
have specific needs. Read more about these sectors here.
To be eligible for support, a partnership between a participant
from one of the beneficiary states and a participant from Norway must
be established, and it must be established prior to application. Read
more about the requirements for partnerships, and advice on how to find
a partner,
here.
Who can participate?
Public or private companies, institutions, ministries, non-governmental organisations and social partners are all eligible applicants within the sectors of priority to the programmes, provided that they are legal entities, and that a partnership has been established.
Essential readings
To get a necessary understanding of the conditions for support through the programmes, and to fully understand the rules and procedures for applications, we urge you to carefully read the document named “Applicant's Guide” that is included
here
