The European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reducing economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to strengthening bilateral relations with the 15 beneficiary countries in Eastern and Southern Europe and the Baltic states.

These financial mechanisms are based on the European Economic Area Agreement which reunites the EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as equal partners in the internal market.

In total, the three countries have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. A further €2.8 billion has been made available in the 2014-2021 funding period. The EEA grants are jointly funded by all the three donors, while the Norway Grants are funded exclusively by Norway and are available in the 13 countries having joined the EU after 2003.

Funding is channelled through financing programmes, under specific priority sectors, while the areas, objectives and expected results are established with each beneficiary country.

For more details on the EEA and Norway Grants see www.eeagrants.org, www.norwaygrants.org and data.eeagrants.org.

EEA and Norway Grants in Romania

The cooperation between Romania and the European Economic Area (EEA) countries started after the accession of Romania to the European Union on January 1, 2007, Romania becoming part to the EEA Agreement on July 25, 2007.

Thus, Romania was granted €906 million, for three financing periods:

• 2007-2009 - €98.5 million, funding 69 projects in areas such as environment, health, cultural heritage, with the absorption rate of 88%.
• 2009-2014 - €305.95 million, funding 830 projects in 22 financing programmes, ending in December 2017. For more details on the results obtained, see here.
• 2014-2021 – €502 million allocated to 12 financing programmes (in progress).