EEA and Norway Grants Reducing disparities Strengthening bilateral relations Tom Jurin Financial Mechanism Office, May 2013

EEA Agreement Promoting trade and economic relations between the EU and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein European internal market with free movement of: - Goods - Services - Persons - Capital Common rules Equal framework conditions Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are partners with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). This enables the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in the internal market. The Agreement also covers cooperation in many other areas such as research, social policy and the environment.

The History of the Grants Since the existence of the EEA Agreement 1994-1998, 1999-2003, 2004-2009 and 2009-2014 New EU members in 2004 About 25 billion NOK from 1994 to 2014 or just above € 3 billion Ever since the establishment of the EEA Agreement in 1994, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have provided funding to reduce social and economic disparities in the EEA. Despite much progress in Europe, gaps in economic development and living standards persist. The expansions of the EU in 2004 and 2009 brought a 20% increase in the EU's population, but only a 5% increase in GDP. Through the EEA and Norway Grants, we are helping to reduce disparities. The funding is targeted on areas where there are clear needs in the beneficiary countries and that are in line with national priorities and wider European goals.

Reduce social and economic disparities in Europe 2009-2014 Reduce social and economic disparities in Europe Strengthened bilateral relations between 3 donor states and the 15 beneficiary states EUR 1.79 billion from 2009 to 2014 Norway contributes 97% of the total In the current periode the funding amounts to 1,79 billion euro. The Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral relations with 15 EU countries in Central ans Southern Europe.

Timeline 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Agreements Policy framework: Regulation, programme areas, MoUs Establishing programmes Programmes Grants to projects So this is how the timeline for the 2009-2014 periode looks like. Projects may be implemented until 2016. Project implementation Final reporting

Funding is channelled through 147 programmes in the 15 beneficiary countries. Country allocations are based on population size and GDP per capita, making Poland the largest beneficiary state, followed by Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 Areas we support.

Programmes EEA Norway Grants 2009-14 147 programmes projects finances OVERALL OBJECTIVES EEA Norway Grants 2009-14 finances Reduction of economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area (EEA) Strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and the beneficiary countries 147 programmes composed of The Programme model: How it works Each beneficiary country agrees on a set of programmes with the donor countries, based on national needs and priorities and the scope for cooperation with the donor countries. A national Focal Point is responsible for the overall management of programmes in each beneficiary country. Programme Operators develope and manage the programmes, often in cooperation with a donor programme partner, and award funding to projects. Projects are selected following calls for proposals organised by the Programme Operator. projects

Organisational structure Donor States FMO Embassies National Focal Points The Programme model: How it works Each beneficiary country agrees on a set of programmes with the donor countries, based on national needs and priorities and the scope for cooperation with the donor countries. A national Focal Point is responsible for the overall management of programmes in each beneficiary country. Programme Operators develope and manage the programmes, often in cooperation with a donor programme partner, and award funding to projects. Projects are selected following calls for proposals organised by the Programme Operator. Programme Operator Donor Programme Partner Project Promoter Project Partner

Norway Grants 2009-2014 From this list Each country agreed on a set of programmes with the donor countries based on needs, priorities and the scope for bilateral cooperation. Within each of thise programme areas there is a sett of objectives and focus areas to chose from when developing a programme. This means that there are differences in the same kind of programme, from country to country.

National and local authorities NGOs and civil society organisations Who can get involved? National and local authorities NGOs and civil society organisations Private and public enterprises, and public- private pertnerships Educational and research institutions Students and educational staff Similar entities from the donor countries can become partners in projects Exactly who of these can get involved in each programmes will also variate from programme to programme, according to the priorities and focus areas of the programmes. I believe that the most relevant programmes for you are the ones under NGO/Civil Society, Public Health, Children and youth and possibly some other as well. Let me show you some examples with the health programmes.

Focus areas – Public health programmes Universal access to safe, high-quality, efficient healthcare services with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable groups. Strengthen cooperation between social and healthcare services. Effective public health policies to prevent non-communicable diseases.

Focus areas – Public health programmes Improved health surveillance and information systems, such as data registries to track and monitor population health. Improve mental health services, such as development of strategies to enable community-based treatment of patients with mental disorders. Awareness-raising campaigns for healthy lifestyles in the population generally and amoung young people in particular. Projects are selected based on open calls for proposals organised by the programme operator in each beneficiary country. Calls are published on the websites of the programme opperators and on www.eeagrants.org. In some cases projects are already predefined.

● Country Reduced inequalities between user groups Prevent and reduce lifestyle diseases Improve mental health Prevent HIV/ AIDS & TB Improve access to and quality of health services National health registries / health informati on systems Improve health governance DPP Grant amount (€ million) Bulgaria ●   13.4 Cyprus  ● 1,2 Czech R. ▪  19.2 Estonia ●   8.9 Hungary 16.6 Lithuania 6 Poland 18 58 Portugal 10 Romania 8.1 Slovenia 10.2 This table showes the objectives of the different health programmes. Before i show you our website and how to apply to projects, let me first explain the bilateral aspects of the grants and what kind of possibilities it provides.

Bilateral cooperation Partnerships with public entities from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in more than half of the programmes Cooperation in projects Bilateral funds International organisations Council of Europe Transparency International (Use speaking notes) Strengthening bilateral relations is a primary objective of the EEA and Norway Grants. To enhance cooperation, partnerships between organisations in the donor and beneficiary countries are widely encuraged. More than half of the programmes involve cooperation with partners from the donor countries. Partnerships in projects are also encuraged. Funds are set in all beneficiary countries to support networking and fostering project partnerships. The Grants also cooperate with the Council of Europe and Transparency International on issues of mutual concern.

Bilateral Fund Programme level Measure a) Seed money Match-making b) Networking Exchange of know-how

National bilaterale fond Country EUR Priority Sector Implementation Poland 2,890,500 All sectors Predefined activities Romania 1,529,750 Justice and home affairs, Health, Culture, Environment, Children and youth at risk, Anti-discrimination Open call and predefined activities Hungary 766,500 European fundamental values, Social welfare and gender, Environment Open call Czech Republic 659,000 Open call launched Bulgaria 633,000 Combating drugs and organized crime, Children and youth at risk, European values

National bilaterale fond Country EUR Priority sector Implementation Lithuania 420,000 Good governance, Social inclusion, Academic cooperation, Cultural exchange, EU presidency 2013 Open call and predefined activities Slovakia 403,750 Culture, Environment, Social welfare Latvia 364,750 Riga Cultural Capital 2014, EU presidency 2015, Justice and home affairs Predefined activities Greece 317,000 TBD Portugal 289,750 Social exclusion in urban areas, Good governance, Climate change, Anti-discrimination On-going Open call and predefined activities Estland 243,000 Democratic values, Children and youth, Municipality cooperation

National bilaterale fond Country EUR Priority sector Implementation Spain 229,250 Renewable energy, Gender, Culture , Civil society, Scholarship Predefined activities, possibly open calls Slovenia 134,500 Gender, Health, European integration Predefined activities Kypros 39,250 TBD Malta 22,500 Conference for diplomats Predefined activity

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