Norway and Poland sign agreements

Green investments, including carbon capture and storage, are at the core of the EEA and Norway Grants in Poland for the next years. Agreements on the total €578 million investment were today signed by Norway and Poland.

Polish MoU signing.JPG

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland took part in the signing event in Gdansk today.
See photos of the signing on the EEA and Norway Grants' Facebook page.

Green investments, including CCS

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will invest €247 million on ‘green’ programmes and projects in Poland, to reduce greenhouse gases, tackle pollution and safeguard biodiversity. Norway will contribute €137 million to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) at Belchatów, the largest coal fuelled thermal power plant in Europe. Poland is among the countries with the highest levels of CO2 emissions in Europe. Gassnova, the Norwegian state enterprise for CCS, will be a partner in this project.

Other areas

Public health is the second largest area of support, with €70 million targeted at improving access to and quality of health services. Family planning, combating lifestyle diseases and dealing with challenges connected to an ageing population are prioritised areas.

Within the area of justice and home affairs, €37 million will be invested in initiatives to strengthen the Polish judiciary, increase the use of alternatives to prison and improve training for both inmates and prison staff.

Strong support to the Polish civil society will continue with €37 million allocated to a new fund for non-governmental organisations. NGOs will be able to apply for funding for projects to promote democracy, social justice and sustainable development.

Bilateral research cooperation between Poland and Norway will continue with close to €37 million set aside for joint research on environment and climate, health and social sciences, including migration. Exchange with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will be facilitated through scholarship programmes worth €10 million.

As in the previous funding round, considerable funding will be set aside to safeguard and revitalise cultural heritage and improve accessibility for the public. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will contribute €60 million to this area, with an additional €10 million to promote diversity in culture and the arts.

Bilateral cooperation

The agreements signed today pave the way for increased bilateral cooperation between the donor states and Poland. Nine Norwegian public entities will be partners in programmes on environment, climate change, health, justice, research, scholarships and cultural heritage. Iceland and Liechtenstein will also participate with programme partners on scholarships, and all programmes will facilitate partnerships at project level. In the previous funding period, 100 projects in Poland were implemented in cooperation with donor state entities.

For more information, visit the country page for Poland