EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014: Mid-term evaluation of the support to strengthened bilateral relations - Final report

Mid-term evaluation of the support to strengthened bilateral relations during the 2009-2014 funding period. The evaluation was conducted by COWI A/S and was published in August 2016.

Main findings:

• Stakeholders in programmes and projects confirm the positive experience of working towards common results. Such mutual experiences have a higher effect on bilateral relations than more traditional ways of providing external support.
• Stakeholders in both donor and beneficiary countries have increased their knowledge and mutual understanding of the partners’ culture and institutions. 73% of survey respondents strongly agreed that awareness, attitudes and trust had increased through the EEA and Norway Grants 2009-14. Several strategic stakeholders state that both programmes and projects open doors at the political level. 
• Continued cooperation and development of networks are significant, particularly via projects with grant support for partnerships in research programmes. The development of international and EU networks are supported under the Grants where the funding is an important facilitator for the first international cooperation for both parties. 76 % of survey respondents from projects expect that they will continue the dialogue and cooperation with partners in future - well beyond the projects’ completion.