The ‘Blue Book’ containing the priority sectors and programme areas for the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 is now available. Read about the results from the public consultation on the draft ‘Blue Book’ in the summary of results.
Prior the finalisation of the ‘Blue Book’, a public consultation was held to offer an opportunity for stakeholders to take account of the draft of the ‘Blue Book’ and provide input on priorities for the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021.
Interest in the public consultation was high with nearly 1500 respondents participating, and the response to the ‘Blue Book’ was overwhelmingly positive. Comments were received from each of the donor and beneficiary countries of the Grants as well as from a number of international organisations. As a result, approximately 70 changes have been made to the text of the priority sectors and programme areas of the ‘Blue Book’.
The number of responses is in large part due to the efforts of the EEA and Norway Grants’ stakeholders in sharing information about the public consultation with others who might otherwise not have known about the opportunities offered by the Grants. The donor countries welcome this open approach.
The donor countries are pleased with the number of responses received and their quality. They appreciate that so many people, from across Europe, took time to share their views.
Summary of results of the public consultation
The ‘Blue Book’ is published together with the summary of results of the public consultation. The summary reports on participation in the public consultation, on the process of collection and analysis of the responses and provides an overview of the changes made.’
Access the ‘Blue Book’ and the summary of results via the webpage for the public consultation: www.eeagrants.org/bluebook
Next steps
Now that the ‘Blue Book’ has been finalised, the next steps are the following:
- The donor countries are in the process of negotiating a Memoranda of Understanding with each beneficiary country. The Memoranda of Understanding specify the programme areas to be funded in each beneficiary country. The aim is to tailor the support from the EEA and Norway Grants to each country on the basis of its needs, aims and capacity, as well as on any particular bilateral interest shared by at least one donor and a beneficiary country
- Once the respective Memoranda of Understanding have been signed, the nominated Programme Operators will draft the programmes under the programme areas specified in their country, again based on needs, aims and capacity as well as on bilateral interest. This process will further influence the eligibility of projects selected for support under the programmes
Keep an eye on the website for updates on the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021.