Hundreds of individual projects, 200 subprojects and the setting-up of new partnerships are among the results of the first programming period of the EEA and Norwegian financial mechanisms, the TASR newswire reported.
In 2004-2009, Slovakia was one of 15 country recipients which had access to EEA and Norwegian grants, with 97 percent of the total made up of resources from Norway, TASR wrote. In the second programming period, in place until 2014, the mechanisms will provide more than €80 million to support for projects in Slovakia, with the main goal of narrowing economic and social gaps between European regions.
Slovakia’s Government Office serves as the national contact point.
"Almost always 15 percent of the funding for projects is covered by the state budget," said Prime Minister Iveta Radičová at an evaluation conference held on June 27. She pointed out that more than 2,000 people are involved in international cooperation via the financial mechanisms annually.
"Grants have allowed the interconnection of joint activities of people from Slovakia, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. I hope that this successful cooperation will continue in the next programme period," she said.
Projects financed from these mechanisms have helped to improve protection of the environment, develop the potential of human resources and support international cooperation, TASR wrote.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
