National level

Under the 2009-2014 period 0.5% of the grants i.e. EUR 134,000 was allocated for strengthening bilateral relations between Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Slovenia.

Already in the 2004-2009 period Slovenia focused on strengthening bilateral relations and decided to continue with such activities also in the 2009-2014 period by focusing on gender equality and public health. Negotiations with the Donors, namely the Financial Mechanism Office and the Norwegian Embassy, resulted in identifying the key areas of cooperation at the national level, namely health inequalities, gender equality and past experiences and the future of European integration.

Bilateral Fund at National Level covered wider initiatives and target groups than the programme level. Synergies between national and programme bilateral cooperation are very important especially in light of the fact that the specific priorities of the Bilateral Fund at National Level, namely public health and gender equality, fall under the thematic areas of the Norwegian Mechanism Mechanism programme.

National Focal Point (NFP) was responsible for the management of the Bilateral Fund at the National Level. All the activities were organised in cooperation with NFP and the entities implementing the Fund-related activities (Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities) in compliance with the Guidelines on Technical Assistance of the Bilateral Fund at National Level (SI01). NFP established an informal working group to monitor the Fund-specific activities comprising representatives of NFP and other participating institutions. Pursuant to Regulation provisions bilateral activities are reported under the Combined Strategic & Annual Programme Report and discussed at the annual meeting with the Donor States.