25 years of improving lives

Image credits: Christophe Vander Eecken

The EEA and Norway Grants represent 25 consecutive years of contributions from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to improving lives in the European Economic Area (EEA) and strengthening bilateral relations with countries across Europe.

A brief history

Ever since the EEA Agreement entered into force, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have contributed to social and economic progress in several countries of the EU and EEA. The contributions have been channelled through different funding schemes, namely the Financial Mechanism (1994–1998), the Financial Instrument (1999–2003) and the EEA and Norway Grants (2004-2009, 2009-2014, 2014-2021).

People working
Credits: Martin Bonnici

The European Economic Area

The European Economic Area (EEA) binds together the 28 EU member countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as equal partners in the internal market. All EEA countries have the same rights and obligations when it comes to trade and investment, banking and insurance, and buying and selling services. The citizens have the same right to work, study and live in any EEA member country. The Agreement also covers cooperation in other important areas such as research and innovation, education, culture, civil society and the environment.

Since the EU enlargement in 2004, there have been two separate mechanisms: the EEA Grants and the Norway Grants. The EEA Grants are financed by the three Donor States, while the Norway Grants are solely financed by Norway. The Donor States contribute according to their size and GDP. For example, in the current funding period 2014-2021, Norway provides approximately 94.4%, Iceland 4.2% and Liechtenstein 1.3% of the total budget allocated to the EEA Grants (average figures based on allocations in the period 2014-2020). Norway Grants are 100% financed by Norway.

In 2019 we celebrated 25 years of contributions to Europe

Eligibility of the EEA and Norway Grants mirrors the criteria set for the EU Cohesion Fund aimed at Member States where the Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average. For the current funding period, these countries are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Countries which have entered the EU before 2004 are exempt from receiving funding under the Norway Grants; Greece and Portugal therefore only receive EEA Grants funding.

In the current funding period, allocations are channelled through five priority sectors in the 15 Beneficiary States. Country allocations are based on population size and GDP per capita, making Poland the largest Beneficiary State, followed by Romania and Bulgaria.

Our past achievements

The 2014-2021 funding period of the Grants builds on the solid results achieved in the last funding period. During the 2009-2014 funding period, 1.8 billion euros were allocated to over 7 000 projects across 16 Beneficiary States. Below is a snapshot of our achievements:

26 800+ People have benefitted from human rights support through our civil society programmes1

80 000+ People have followed alternatives to prison, mainly as part probation supervision programmes2

People working
Credits: Adam Rostkowski
People working
Credits: Agnieszka Skowronek

1.7M+ People attended cultural events organised with our support3

1 500 internationally refereed scientific publications have been published through our research programmes4

140 Environmental and marine monitoring plans and programmes developed or implemented5

People working
Credits: Bogdan Croitoru
  1. 1.26 301 beneficiaries through the EEA Grants and 540 through the Norway Grants.
  2. 2.80 533 beneficiaries through the Norway Grants only.
  3. 3.1 738 101 beneficiaries through the EEA Grants.
  4. 4.1 428 internationally refereed scientific publications through the Norway Grants and 75 through the EEA Grants.
  5. 5.142 environmental and marine monitoring plans and programmes developed and/or implemented through the EEA Grants.
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Data portal

Explore the results of our previous funding period on the EEA and Norway Grants data portal

Visit the website

Disbursement Statistics (as of 15 January 2020)

Million Euros Actual 2017-2020 Total Net Allocation % Disbursed
Country EEA Grants Norway Grants Total EEA Grants Norway Grants Total
Bulgaria 14.20 14.28 28.48 106.38 87.97 194.34 14.66%
Croatia 0.00 0.17 0.17 52.54 43.11 95.65 0.18%
Cyprus 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.92 4.72 10.64 0.00%
Czech Republic 12.60 8.41 21.01 88.34 82.33 170.66 12.31%
Estonia 4.63 1.36 5.99 29.88 33.02 62.90 9.52%
Greece 13.38 0.00 13.38 107.95 0.00 107.95 12.40%
Hungary 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.73 97.77 198.51 0.00%
Latvia 0.11 0.27 0.37 46.44 48.01 94.44 0.39%
Lithuania 0.12 0.00 0.12 51.99 56.80 108.78 0.11%
Malta 0.02 0.00 0.02 4.07 3.33 7.40 0.21%
Poland 12.12 7.63 20.75 367.97 380.64 748.60 2.77%
Portugal 11.92 0.00 11.92 95.00 0.00 95.00 12.55%
Romania 41.46 27.42 68.88 254.56 210.25 464.81 14.82%
Slovakia 8.25 4.95 13.19 50.78 53.84 104.62 12.61%
Slovenia 0.26 0.13 0.38 18.41 16.47 34.87 1.10%
Funds 7.03 5.69 12.72 51.11 41.39 92.50 13.75%
Decent Work - Re-granting 0.00 3.77 3.77
Total 127.08 7,407 201.16 1,432.04 1,159.63 2,591.67 7.76%
DPP's 5.03 3.32 8.35 23.16 18.90 42.06 19.85%
IPOs 2.73 2.19 4.92 7.87 6.37 14.25 34.51%
Decent Work - Management Costs 0.00 0.90 0.90 0.00 1.41 1.41 63.71%
Total DPP's, IPOs and Decent Work Management Costs 7.76 6.41 14.16 31.03 26.68 57.71 24.54%
Grand Total 134.84 80.48 215.32 1,463.07 1,186.31 2,649.38 8.13%
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