On Thursday, 27 May, the annual European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway grants meeting took place. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the line ministries discussed with representatives of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Financial Mechanism Office, as well as the Embassy of Norway and Iceland the progress of the EEA and Norway grant programmes, including progress in strengthening bilateral relations with donor countries.
“EEA and Norwegian grant support for Latvia has always been significant, but this is particularly important now that the effects of the pandemic are felt in different areas. By 2025, various projects will be able to receive grants support and make targeted investments in their development,” notes Armands Eberhardt, Deputy State Secretary for the EU Funds.
Despite the impact of Covid-19, significant progress has been made so far in the implementation of grants. Currently more than half of the predefined projects are in implementation. Work has been undertaken on the development of the Correctional Service Personnel Training Centre and the Open Regime Prison Infrastructure in Olaine Prison. In the field of education, steady progress is made in all four innovation centres projects development in Daugavpils, Liepaja, Cesis and Ventspils. Four project implementation in the field of internal affairs is continuing as well – promoting cooperation between law enforcement authorities in the prevention and combating of economic crime, supporting the establishment of an alarm system, preventing and combating economic crime at the Border Crossing point “Terehova” and the State Police for speeding up economic crime investigations and improving the quality of Latvia. As well a two project on climate change policy integration has started.
At the same time, in the field of education and research, with a record number of applications, the open project competition in the Baltic Research Programme finished, in which eight research projects in Latvia will be supported. As well as five Latvian high scools applied in open project competition for scolarships. A competition for the rehabilitation activity of historically contaminated sites has also been closed, in which three projects are planned to be approved.
Two open project contests are currently active, one in which entrepreneurs can receive support for the introduction of green innovation and information and communication technology products in production. Second – in the field of culture, in which the aid is intended to create professional arts and cultural products for children and young people in all regions of Latvia.
There is also an equally active interest in the Bilateral Cooperation Fund support. In Fund the initiatives on €1.26 million has been approved so far, leaving €0.48 million still available until 2025 for new initiatives. The aim of the Fund is to strengthen bilateral relations between Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Latvia in areas such as security, research, preservation of cultural heritage, media strengthening, public participation and the promotion of openness.
Until now, grants have contributed to areas relevant to Latvia’s development, such as justice, science and innovation, strengthening local government capacity, environment, preservation of cultural heritage and civil society.
Be the first to know about open calls – Subscribe to News
Subscribe to news
Receive notifications of the latest contests, news and news events in programs that are important to you!
Report Irregularities
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption and mismanagement in the EEA and Norway Grants. We strongly encourage you to share your concerns and report suspected irregularities.
