Open Call for Bilateral Cooperation in the Green Transition
© iStock, PetmalResults open call
The open call received 66 applications by the deadline. The total grant requested by those applications was 11,155,154 euro. All 66 applications involve cooperation between Romania and Norway or Iceland on the green transition.
The initial available budget of 2 million euro for this call was supplemented with reallocation of savings under various Programmes to the Fund for Bilateral Relations at national level, reaching 5,047,548 euro.
Within the available budget, 30 projects were approved, for whicha total of 4,948,795 euro were granted.
The list of approved projects is published here.
Applications to the Call
The Open Call for Bilateral Cooperation in the Green Transition was launched in March 2024 with a deadline on 31 May 2024.
The open call received 66 applications by the deadline. The total grant requested is 11,155,154 euro. All 66 applications involve cooperation between Romania and Norway or Iceland on the green transition.
The open call makes available 2 million euro. Innovation Norway has started the assessment of applications. Applicants will receive feedback by the end of June.
Innovation Norway will contact applicants for any clarifications during the assessments of project.
Information session
An information session has been held on Tuesday, 23 April.
Please access the recording here.
Please access the presentation used during the information session here.
Aims
The aim is to increase cooperation between Romania and Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein in the green transition. The call is open to all areas of cooperation deemed relevant for the green transition.
The relevant areas of cooperation can include, but are not limited to:
- Renewable energy and other forms of clean energy solutions
- Resource efficiency and circular economy
- Sustainable blue economy
- Energy storage including batteries
- Zero-emission transport including green shipping
- Smart/sustainable city solutions
- Carbon capture and storage
Eligible Applicants and Participants
Eligible applicants and partners are any entity, public or private, commercial or non-commercial, or non-governmental organisations, established in Romania and in Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
Cooperation between Romania and Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein is mandatory.
Entities from Romania can apply if they have a partner from Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
Entities from Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein can apply if they have a partner from Romania.
The application shall include a draft partnership agreement as a mandatory attachment.
Eligible Activities
Activities aimed at strengthening bilateral relations, increasing cooperation and improving mutual knowledge and understanding in the green transition. The activities can include, but are not limited to:
- Networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and practice
- Development of green technologies, products or services
- Feasibility studies
- Training, capacity building and awareness-raising
The initiative must involve cooperation in quality partnerships with mutual interest and activities where the applicant and the partner(s) plan, implement and benefit from the results of the initiative.
The initiative must contribute to the green transition.
The initiative must comply with state aid rules.
The call will not support investments in infrastructure (hard measures).
Available Budget
The total grant amount for the call is €2,000,000.
The budget might be increased if more financing becomes available.
The minimum grant amount applied for is €50,000.
The maximum grant amount applied for is €250,000.
Grant Rate
If the applicant is eligible for De Minimis support, the grant rate is 85% of the total costs of the initiative.
If the applicant is not eligible for De Minismis, the grant rate is determined by the relevant provisions of General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).
Timeline
The final date (deadline) for applications is 31 May 2024.
The final date (deadline) of eligibility of costs is 31 January 2025.
The final deadline for submission of the final project report to Innovation Norway is 28 February 2025.
Conditions
Partnership between at least one Romanian entity and at least one Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein entity is mandatory. Applicants must submit a draft partnership agreement as an attachment to the application (template below).
Applications and communication shall be in English.
Eligible Expenditures
The eligibility of expenditure is subject to a bilateral profile of activities.
Expenditures must be in line with the principles on the eligibility in Article 8.2 of the Regulation on the implementation of the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.
Management costs (including overheads) cannot constitute more than 10% of the budget. The cost of an audit report is an eligible cost within the initiative and should be foreseen in the budget.
Financing and Reporting
The payment to the inititaitve shall be based on remibursment of cost accompanied by an audited report submitted together with the final project report.
The final report is to be submitted within 1 month after the end of the initiative.
How to apply
Applications shall be submitted to Innovation Norway by email: [email protected].Questions can be sent to the same email. Replies can be expected within 3‐5 working days.
Any amendments to this call text shall be published on the website: eea.innovationnorway.com
Mandatory documents
- Application form (template word document)
- Partnership agreement (template word document)
- De Minimis declaration where relevant (template word document)
- Self-declaration of the applicant (template word document)
- Budget (template excel document)
If the project is approved, beneficiaries are recommended to create a video testimonial and subsequently, read the following documents:
Selection Criteria
Innovation Norway will assess the eligibility of all applications based on the following formal criteria (yes/no):
- The application is submitted in line with the requirements outlined in this call text
- The application includes the mandatory attachments, i.e. partnership agreement and state aid declaration (where relevant)
- The timeframe foreseen in the application is in line with the time for implementation
- The budget in the application is within the minimum and maximum grant amount
- The application includes cooperation between Romania and Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
The eligible applications will be scored on the following evaluation criteria (1 – lowest to 6 highest):
- Effect
- Efficiency
- Feasibility
- Bilateral cooperation
See the selection criteria here