The EEA and Norway Grants have their basis in the EEA Agreement. Under the Agreement, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are part of the EU’s internal market. The EEA Agreement, which entered into force in 1994, sets out the common goal of working together to reduce social and economic disparities in Europe and strengthening cooperation between donor and beneficiary countries. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have allocated EUR 2.8 billion to 15 EU countries for this purpose. Norway provides just under 98 % of this amount.

The EEA and Norway Grants are important tools in the Norwegian Government’s active European policy, which seeks to promote a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.

EUR 116.7 million has been allocated to a number of cooperation programs with Greece through the EEA and Norway Grants. These programs are designed to strengthen cooperation between Norway and Greece and to promote social and economic development in Greece.

The Memorandum of Understanding concerning the administrative and regulatory framework of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021 (FM-EEA) was signed on 31 October 2017 between the Hellenic Republic and the Donor States and designates CRES as the Programme Operator in the program area “Renewable Energy Sources, Energy Efficiency, Energy Security” with a total budget of € 10,000,000 (contribution of EEA Grants € 7,500,000 and Public Investments Program € 2,500,000), while the additional amount of € 50,000 is foreseen to be allocated by the Bilateral Relations Fund.