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The agreement to contribute towards and strengthen cooperation on the reduction of social and economic disparities in Europe resulted in the amendment of Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement by Joint Committee Decision 47/2000 of 22 May 2000, which established the Financial Instrument. The Instrument is funded by the EEA-EFTA States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The constitutional procedures of the EEA-EFTA States were completed during autumn 2000 and the Financial Instrument has been operational since 1 January 2001. The commitment period was therefore effectively three years from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2003.
The Financial Instrument made 119.6 million euros - entirely in the form of grants representing contributions for 1999-2003 - available for projects in Greece, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Portugal and Spain over the five-year period of 1999-2003. The decision on the beneficiary states’ individual share of the Financial Instrument funds was taken by the European Union.
Pre-allocations to Beneficiary States in euros:
|
Beneficiary |
1999 |
2000-2003 |
Total |
Percentage |
|
Spain |
10,859,680 |
59,321,600 |
70,181,280 |
58.7% |
Portugal |
5,023,200 |
16,265,600 |
21,288,800 |
17.8% |
|
Greece |
5,812,560 |
16,265,600 |
22,078,160 |
18.5% |
|
Ireland |
1,698,320 |
3,827,200 |
5,525,520 |
4.6% |
|
UK(Northern Ireland) |
526,240 |
0 |
526,240 |
0.4% |
|
Total |
23,920,000 |
95,680,000 |
119,600,000 |
100.0% |
Funding was available for projects in the areas of the environment, including urban renewal, reduction of urban pollution and securing European cultural heritage, transport, including infrastructure and education and training, including academic research. The aim was to allocate at least two thirds of the overall amount to projects in the area of the environment. Projects in this sector were granted more than 93% of the total grant amount, or 105.9 million of a total of 113.6. Projects in the area of education and training, including academic research, accounted for 5.4%, whereas 1.3% went to the transport sector.
The commitment period of the Financial Instrument ended on 31 December 2003. By the end of this period, the Financial Instrument Committee had approved 25 applications for a total of 113.6 million euros, or close to 95% of the total grant capacity of 119.6 million euros. All 25 commitments were made during 2003.
Present status: A short description of the various granted projects and their present status can be found in the Financial Instrument (1999-2003) Status report. |
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