Gobierno de España. Ministerio de Hacienda Y Función Pública Secretaría General de Presupuestos y Gastos
Unión Europea

Financing through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism

When the European Union was extended, the financial instrument of the European Economic Area (EEA) designed a new Programme for the period 2004-2009, where the Beneficiary States are the new Member States of the EU, together with Portugal, Greece and Spain, under which our country is expected to receive around 41 million euros over said period for individual projects.

The Directorate General of European Funds in the Ministry of Economy and the Inland Revenue is in charge of managing how the funds from this Financial Instrument are used, of monitoring and controlling them and, as such, it is the so-called National Focal Point for said Financial Instrument in Spain.

To prepare for the job of selecting eligible projects to be presented to the Mechanism Committee for assessment, it was decided to conduct a prior consultation among the various Governments in the country, requesting projects from the Ministries competent for the eligible sectors of the programme, in 17 Autonomous Communities, Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and certain NGO's which represent the environmental sector.

1. The eligible areas for financing with the Financial Instrument over this period are:

•Sector A : Environmental Protection.

Fundamentalmente, han sido elegibles programas/proyectos en las siguientes áreas: polución acústica y atmosférica, promoción de energías renovables, promoción y desarrollo de los Lugares de Interés Comunitario (LICs), restauración de costas y cauces, restauración de áreas medioambientales degradadas (a través de la reforestación, sellado de vertederos etc), mantenimiento de bosques. Podrían presentarse, también, programas/proyectos en las áreas tradicionales de suministro, depuración y saneamiento de agua, y tratamiento de residuos

•Sector B: Promoción del desarrollo económico, social y medioambiental sostenible.

It has mainly been the programmes/projects in the following areas which have been foundeligible: noise and atmospheric pollution, the promotion of renewable energy, the promotion and development of Places of Community Interest (PCI's), the restoration of coasts and river beds, the restoration of environmentally degraded areas (through re-forestation, the sealing of rubbish tips, etc.), forestry maintenance. Programmes/projects in the traditional areas of supply, waste-water disposal and treatment and waste treatment may also be presented.

• Sector C: Preservation of cultural heritage

In this area, the programmes/projects considered eligible have been the refurbishment of buildings and urban areas with cultural heritage value, the construction of cultural infrastructure, the promotion of tourism in areas with cultural heritage, urban renovation in areas of cultural heritage and public transport in areas of cultural heritage.

• Development of human capital to increase the productivity of the work factor and R&D projects.

In this sector, the programmes/projects considered eligible were the ones for establishing adult training centres for their re-incorporation into the job market, programmes/projects for granting scholarships for Universities, professional training courses and training in the areas of IT and new technology, research and development programmes/projects and social integration programmes/projects.

As a result of the call in 2005, 424 projects were sent in, of which the Directorate General of European Funds, advised by a Committee of experts, has successively pre-selected 20 projects for subsidies from the European Economic Area, as indicated in the attached list. The persons responsible for these 20 projects must send additional, standardised information in English to the Directorate-General, so that it may issue an report on them and later send them on to the Financial Mechanism Office in Brussels.

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