Norway contributes almost € 230 million annually to social and economic cohesion in the enlarged EU/EEA through the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism established in 2004. This implied a tenfold increase in the Norwegian contribution towards reduction of social and economic disparities in the EU/EEA area, and made Norway one of the largest contributors of the 28 countries in the enlarged EEA.
24/03/2004 (last changed: 09/08/2007) ::
Both mechanisms entered into force on 1 May 2004. The objectives of the mechanisms were to contribute to the reduction of economic and social disparities in the EU/EEA area through the financing of grants to investment and development programmes and projects. Under the EEA Financial Mechanism the EEA/EFTA states contributes € 600 million in the period from 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2009 of which Norway’s share is € 567 million. Moreover, for the same period, Norway contributes € 567 million under the bilateral mechanism. In total, the two mechanisms contributes € 233,4 million annually to social and economic cohesion in this area.
The beneficiary states under the two mechanisms are primarily the ten EU member states (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia). Whereas the Norwegian Financial Mechanism is solely targeted at the new EU member states, the EEA Financial Mechanism also includes the EU member states Spain, Greece and Portugal. The grants are available for projects in the following priority sectors: Environment, sustainable development, cultural heritage, human resource development and health and child care, as well as academic research targeted at one of the above mentioned sectors. As regards the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, the priority sectors are the same as under the EEA Financial Mechanism, but with emphasis on projects in the areas of implementation of the Schengen acquis, environment (especially administrative capacity, infrastructure, technology and municipal waste management), regional policy and cross-border activities and technical assistance relating to implementation of acquis communautaire.
Being by far the biggest of the ten new member states, Poland benefits from almost half of the total amount of the funds.
Although the two mechanisms are clearly separated, they are closely co-ordinated regarding application procedures and assessments and the two mechanisms can also co-finance projects. Furthermore, the two mechanisms share a secretariat: The Financial Mechanism Office established in Brussels, assisting in the implementation of the mechanisms.