Bucharest: 70 projects in Romania benefit from EUR 98.5 million in non-refundable funds, allocated through the EEA Financial Mechanism (the EEA Grants) and The Norwegian Cooperation Programme (Norway Grants).
Through the two financial mechanisms, the EEA Grants and the Norway Grants, the EEA – EFTA countries allocate to Romania non-refundable financial assistance amounting EUR 98.5 million for the period 2007-2009 for financing projects in key sectors for the development of the country, such as environment, energy efficiency, sustainable production, health, cultural heritage preservation and human resources development.
The evaluation process ended at April 30, 2009, and the projects selected were announced in a press conference organized by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bucharest and Innovation Norway together with the Ministry of Public Finance of Romania. The deadline for project implementation expires on April, 30th 2011.
30 bilateral projects were approved under the Norwegian Cooperation Programme with Romania out of a total of 182 received applications. The Programme was initiated as part of the European Economic Area (EEA) Enlargement Agreement with a view to contributing to economic growth and sustainable development and strengthening bilateral relations between Romania Norway. The total financial allocation of EUR 48 million was made available for three types of projects – travel support, seed money and individual projects – the first two being meant as a preparatory tool for the last category of larger individual projects. The four priority areas under the programme included environment, energy efficiency, sustainable production and health. The Norwegian Cooperation Programme is administrated by the state-owned company Innovation Norway, whereas the National Focal Point for coordination in Romania is the Authority for Coordination of Structural Instruments in the Ministry of Public Finance. The complete list of approved projects is available here.
Through the EEA Financial Mechanism, 40 individual projects, out of 98, were approved for a financial non-refundable assistance of EUR 50.5 million, out of which 47.5 are Norwegian contribution.
The European Economic Area (EEA) Enlargement Agreement was signed by Romania in July 2007 with the aim of strengthening social and economic growth in Europe. Through the EEA Agreement, three countries non-members of the European Union, Norway, Island and Liechtenstein offer financial assistance to Romania in key sectors such as environment, energy, health and childcare, human resource development, and cultural heritage. The complete list of approved projects is available here.
For more information about the programmes, the successful projects and other relevant details, please visit www.norwaygrants.org, www.eeagrants.org and http://www.fonduri-ue.ro/eeagrants/.