EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 Use of the Funds for bilateral relations at national and programme level Tomáš Tesař Ministry of Finance

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level - aim: - to strenghten bilateral cooperation - allocation: - min. 0,5 % of EEA/N Grants in the Czech R. - approx. 970 000 EUR - activities of NFP (ca 457 000 EUR) - 3 otevřené výzvy (ca 513 000 EUR) - eligible applicants: - any entity with ties to the sector - activities: - any of bilateral aspect

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level - system: - out of IS CEDR - application for funding - realization of activities - accounting and request for payment - reimbursement - summary: - 1st Call: 26 approved applications (ca 166 000 EUR) - 2nd Call: 6 approved applications (ca 80 000 EUR) - 3rd Call: 24 approved applications (ca 283 000 EUR) - all calls closed

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level Examples of supported initiatives

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level Examples of supported initiatives

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level Examples of supported initiatives

Fund for Bilateral Relations at National Level „Lessons Learnt“ - significant interest of applicants - in total 113 applications submitted - many e-mail/phone questions raised - two levels of the Funds (National vs. Programme) are confusing for applicants - avioidable formal failings - limits, annexes, timing, exchange rate etc.

Fund for Bilateral Relations at Programme Level - aim: - to find project partner - to strenghten bilateral cooperation in implemented projects - allocation: - min. 1,5% of total programme allocation - 14 programmes in total: approx. 2 780 000 EUR - during the implementation, some allocations were raised due to savings from the open calls

Fund for Bilateral Relations at Programme Level - eligible applicants: - seeking for partners: all entities with ties to the sector (before the end of the open calls for proposals) - strenghtening bilateral cooperation during and after the implementation: final beneficiaries - supported activities: - those aiming at strenghtening bilateral relations in approved projects‘ activities of partners which were not included into the original budget

Fund for Bilateral Relations at Programme Level - system: - via IS CEDR (where the PO is Ministry of Finance) - application for funding - realization of activities - accounting and request for payment - reimbursement - statistics: - allocated funds 0-100% - 2 programmes with closed call - the other with ongoing calls for proposals

Fund for Bilateral Relations at Programme Level - current status: - due to a low interest and commitment rate, it is planned to prolong some deadlines in some calls and extend the eligibility of applicants (all entities instead of final beneficiaries only) - the calls shall be amended in October 2016 – web-sites: www.eeagrants.cz, www.norwaygrants.cz předkládání žádostí (do dubna 2017) a realizace aktivit do června/července 2017, následně předložení závěrečné zprávy do srpna 2017;

Thank you for your attention.