Open Call: Agreement on EEA and Norway Grants 2009-14

Today, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway signed an agreement with the European Union on continued EEA and Norway Grants for the period 2009-14.

18.12.2009

The three donor states will provide €357.7 million per year to reduce social and economic disparities and promote cooperation in Europe in the period 2009–2014, with Norway representing 97% of this amount.

The EEA Grants will be available to the 12 most recent EU members plus Portugal, Greece and Spain, while the Norway Grants will be earmarked for the 12 newest members. The priority sectors will be environment and climate, health, research, education and culture, decent work and civil society, the judiciary and human resources.

€297 million is to be used for renewed efforts to address environmental issues and climate change over the five-year period. In addition around €160 million is to be used for various efforts to develop and promote carbon capture and storage.

An important new element in the agreement is the focus on decent work. €8 million is to be transferred to a fund to promote decent work and tripartite dialogue, in line with the social partners' wishes. A substantial sum will be allocated for further efforts to strengthen civil society and for the health and research sectors.

The agreement on the new EEA and Norway Grants follows on from the previous agreement, which ran from 2004 to 2009.

The Agreed Minutes on the EEA Grants 2009-14 and on the Norway Grants 2009-14 are available here.