EEA & Norway Grants – EUR 68 million allocated to Estonia

Estonia will get more than EUR 68 million under the EEA & Norway Grants 2014 – 2021, being one of the 15 Beneficiary States across the EU in this new funding cycle, to have signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Donor States (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

Out of the total budget, approx. EUR 29 million will be dedicated to the private sector.

Under the Competitiveness programme, the main programme area is Business Development, Innovation and SMEs, which will aim to support increased value creation and growth. This programme will be managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in cooperation with Innovation Norway.

Under the Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation programme, the main programme areas are Climate Change Mitigations and Adaptations and Environment and Ecosystems aiming to mitigate and reduce climate change. This programme will be managed by the Ministry of Environment in cooperation with the Norwegian Environment Agency.

These programme areas open excellent opportunities for Donor State countries interested in creating a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.

Further programme areas of less direct relevance for the private sector are:

• Local Development and Poverty Reduction
• Work life Balance
• European Public Health Challenges
• Children and Youth at Risk
• Youth Participation in the Labour Market
• Domestic and Gender based Violence
• Good Governance, Accountable Institutions and Transparency
• Social Dialogue – Decent Work
• Research
• Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeships and Youth Entrepreneurship
• Civil Society

The total EEA & Norway Grants budget allocated to Estonia, including the funds for Bilateral Relationship and Technical Assistance, amounts to EUR 72.4 million.

For a complete overview of the EEA & Norway Grants 2014 – 2021, you may have a look at the Blue Book – the document outlining the strategy of this mechanism until 2021.