It will take several days to process and upload the last applications into the grant management system, but an estimated 1300 projects for €1.3 billion in grants have been forwarded by the beneficiary states. With the commitment deadline for the grant schemes less than three months away, the countries needed to forward all applications before end-January to leave time for donor appraisal. One Spanish application was hand-delivered on Saturday 31 January to make the deadline.
Project activities are already ongoing in all beneficiary states, including Bulgaria and Romania who joined in 2007. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have already approved 786 applications for €823 million in grants, with only 77 applications valued at €75 million rejected to date. The remaining 400 applications will be decided upon within the 30 April commitment deadline.
Projects and funds are ongoing in all beneficiary states, including Bulgaria and Romania who joined in 2007. A small number of projects, especially in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Malta, have been completed. The majority of the approved projects are at an early stage of implementation.
Model of cooperation
The EEA and Norway Grants are implemented jointly by the 15 beneficiary states in Central and Southern Europe and the three donor states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. In this cooperative model, the beneficiary states are responsible for announcing national open calls for proposals and nominating projects for financing. Prior to a donor decision on each application, the project proposals are appraised by the donor states` secretariat for the grant schemes, the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) based in Brussels.