Successful Launch of the Norwegian Cooperation Programme and the EEA Financial Mechanism for Romania

The Norwegian Cooperation Programme and the EAA Financial Mechanism for Romania were officially launched on 13 November 2007 in Bucharest . Mrs. Elisabeth Walaas, State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Razvan Cotovelea, General Director in the Romanian Ministry of Economy and Finances delivered the opening remarks. More than 450 Romanian and Norwegian participants from ministries, institutions, private and public companies, NGOs and social partners took an active part in the opening session and the five workshops of the event, exploring new joint cooperation possibilities.

The two programmes make available Euro 98,5 million worth of funds for projects within priority sectors in Romania. The EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Cooperation Programme are designed to contribute to social and economic cohesion in Europe through economic growth and sustainable development. The EEA funds are to a large extent administrated by Romania, whilst the Norwegian Cooperation Programme is administrated by Norway.

Through the EEA Financial Mechanism, the three EEA countries Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein provide Euro 50,5 million to Romania, out which Euro 47,5 million comes from Norway. The priority sectors for the EEA Grants for Romania are environment, energy, human resource development, cultural heritage, and health and childcare. The EEA Financial Mechanism operates by the same guidelines that apply to other receiving states through the existing EEA Financial Mechanism. In Romania the programme is administrated by the National Focal Point in the Ministry of Finance, se contact details below. Information about the EEA Grants is available on www.eeagrants.org.

The Norwegian Cooperation Programme, financed by Norway, makes an additional Euro 48 million available for projects in Romania covering sectors such as environment, energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable production and health. This programme, which is administered by the Norwegian entity Innovation Norway, requires a partnership between actors from Norway and Romania. More information about Norway Grants for Romania and application process is available on www.norwaygrants.org.

The Embassy will strongly encourage all interested parties to study the information on the mentioned web pages, before making contact for possible follow up questions.

Contact information for the two financial programmes:

1. The Norwegian Cooperation Programme

The Royal Norwegian Embassy, Bucharest

Commercial Section / Innovation Norway

Tel.: (+40 21) 21 22 023 / 028

Fax: (+40 21) 21 22 038

E-mail: Bucharest@innovationnorway.no

www.norwaygrants.org

Detailed inforamtion about priority sectros, requirements for co-funding, partnerships, application form etc. is available on www.norwaygrants.org.

2. EEA Grants Romania

National Focal Point Romania-

Ministry of Economy and Finances