For the funding period 2004-2009, the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO), the secretariat for the Grants, put in place a system for risk management which is currently being further developed. In 2011, the FMO prepared a comprehensive overview of tasks related to risk management.
Based on this, the consulting group Ernst & Young carried out a review of the risk management set-up in the EEA & Norway Grants 2009-2014 and identified risks related to the donor side management of the Grants. This review was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The review, published today, concludes that the current risk management level for the EEA Grants and Norway Grants is at an acceptable level. The recommendations for further strengthening the risk management include:
- Introduce a risk management strategy
- Develop a risk appetite
- Establish a common ‘risk language’ in the grant schemes
- Consider setting up a risk manager position in the FMO for continuous improvements in risk management
- Strengthen risk reporting to include sufficient risk assessment and measures to reduce risk exposure
The review serves as valuable input to the FMO’s current development of a risk management strategy, and risk criteria for the various entities involved in the management of the Grants.