EEA and Norway launch the Civil Society Fund
20 November – Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, through the EEA and Norway Grants, have officially launched the EEA Civil Society Fund, a new fund aimed at strengthening democracy, human rights and the rule of law across Europe. The support of over EUR 300 million presents a lifeline to civil society organisations amid unprecedented challenges in democracy.
This fund aims to:
- Strengthen democratic participation and values
- Support human rights, equality, and social justice
- Promote climate action and a just green transition
- Build organisational capacity and resilience
In the coming months, stakeholders are invited to learn more about the Civil Society Fund and express their thoughts on it in national consultations events.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) is organising national stakeholder consultations for the new EEA Civil Society Fund. The stakeholder consultations will provide the FMO and potential bidders for the role of Fund Operator with knowledge on relevant needs and opportunities of civil society.
Interested stakeholders can find more information here and you can register to the multistakeholder consultation here. All stakeholder consultations take place from 09:00 to 14:30. All events will be interpreted simultaneously into English and the main language spoken in each beneficiary State.
Source: EEA and Norway, 20 November 2024. Learn more about the new EEA Civil Society Fund – and have your say in it.
Support to EU Member States to Recover from Disasters (RESTORE) Advances
27 November – The EU ambassadors of Member States have agreed to the Council of the European Union’s negotiating position on the European Commission’s proposals to amend three EU regulations to ensure that EU funds can be quickly mobilised in support of post-disaster recovery (RESTORE proposal).
The RESTORE proposals are the Commissions direct response to the floods in Central and Eastern European countries and wildfires in Portugal in September 2024. Taken together, the proposals could allow the seven concerned member states (Poland, Romania, Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Portugal, and Slovakia) to reprogramme around EUR 18 billion (roughly EUR 17.7 billion under the Cohesion Policy funds (ERDF, Cohesion Fund and the ESF+) and EUR 588 million under the EAFRD) to help in the context of climate-related disasters.
The agreement reached by the Council presidency will allow a fast-tracked negotiation with the European Parliament to finalise the measures. In addition, it introduced additional changes including extending the coverage to disasters occurring until 31 December 2025, co-financing reduced to 95% requiring member states to contribute 5%. The Council mandate offers additional assistance and further flexibility for member states affected by natural disasters that have occurred as from 1 January 2024, covering measures such as repairing damaged infrastructure and equipment, and providing food and basic material assistance and social and healthcare support.
The Council expects negotiations with the European Parliament in the coming weeks. Once Parliament has voted on its mandate.
Sources:
European Commission, 21 October 2024. Assistance to member states affected by natural disasters: Council agrees its position on the RESTORE proposal
Council of the European Union, 27 November 2024. Commission takes further steps to help Member States recover from climate disasters