EEA & Norway Grants – a bit of history
EEA & Norway Grants have contributed to reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral relations within 15 EU countries since 1994, by targeting areas with clear needs in those countries and that are in line with national priorities and wider European goals. The EEA Grants are jointly financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, who contribute according to their size and economic wealth (Norway ~94%, Iceland ~5%, Liechtenstein ~1%), whilst the Norway Grants are exclusively managed and resourced by the Norwegian government.
The EEA & Norway Grants has evolved between 1994, when there were only five beneficiary countries with a budget of EUR 119 million, and the current 2014-2021 financial cycle that addresses 15 beneficiary countries with a budget of EUR 2.8 billion.
The EEA & Norway Grants function periodically, and during the 2009‐2014 period, €1.79 billion were set aside for beneficiary countries. For the following funding period (2014-2021), €2.8 billion will be allocated under the mechanism.
With this newsletter, we will begin a series of informational updates addressing relevant industry stakeholders by showing how the grants have been distributed in the private sector per programme and per country in the 2009 – 2014 funding cycle. This follows our positive experience with this mechanism, which led us to compile a detailed study with the results of the EEA & Norway Grants across the CEE markets.
Our aim is to provide information to relevant stakeholders on past and potential funding opportunities under this scheme, so as to increase awareness of the future perspectives of this grant scheme, as well as provide a set of lessons learnt from our experience with the EEA & Norway Grants.
For the upcoming funding cycle, public consultations have begun on the “Blue Book”, which sets out the priority sectors and eligible programme areas under the EEA & Norway Grants 2014-2021 funding period. On the basis of our successful experience in the past, Winnovart is pro-actively involved in the consultation process. If you are interested to apply for grants under this funding cycle, please provide us with a summary of your project concept and we will ensure that it becomes part of consultation process. You may either present your project through our funding-readiness questionnaire or by sending us a short summary by e-mail.
At Winnovart, we are specialised in funding advisory services for grants addressing private sector enterprises (EU grants, state aid schemes, EEA & Norway grants, UK grants, other alternative funding solutions), with a special focus on innovation funding.
