According to the Agreed Minutes, the three donor states will provide €357.7 million per year, or a total sum of almost €1.79 billion, to reduce social and economic disparities in the European Economic Area and to the strengthening of their relations with the beneficiary states in the five-year period 2009-14. € 197.7 million will be made available per year through the EEA Financial Mechanism (the EEA Grants) and € 160 million through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (the Norway Grants). Norway provides 97% of the total amount.
The beneficiary states of the EEA Grants will be the 12 most recent EU members plus Greece, Portugal and Spain, with Spain receiving transitional support in the period 1 May 2009 – 31 December 2013. The Norway Grants are earmarked for the 12 newest members.
The EEA and Norway Grants 2009-14 will be administered according to a programming framework model in which funds will be channelled through programmes established under various priority sectors in the beneficiary states.
The priority sectors will be:
-u0009Environmental protection and management
-u0009Climate change and renewable energy
-u0009Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
-u0009Green industry innovation
-u0009Research and scholarship
-u0009Protecting cultural heritage
-u0009Civil society
-u0009Promotion of decent work and tripartite dialogue
-u0009Justice and home affairs
-u0009Human and social development
The annual contributions for the EEA and Norway Grants 2009-14 combined, listed by beneficiary state and in descending order, will be:
Poland €115.62 million Romania €61.19 million Hungary €30.66 million Czech Republic €26.36 million Bulgaria €25.32 million Lithuania €16.80 million Slovakia €16.15 million Latvia €14.59 million Greece €12.68 million Portugal €11.59 million Estonia €9.72 million Spain* €9.17 million Slovenia €5.38 million Cyprus €1.57 million Malta €0.90 million Total sum €357.70 million*) Spain will receive transitional support in the period 1 May 2009 – 31 December 2013.