The first open call for proposals in Slovenia was made in May 2005. At the same time, the official website was launched. 41 applications was received at the National Focal, out of which seven have been recommended for approval. The total amount allocated for the first round was approximately € 5 million.
The second open call for proposals was made in February 2006. The total amount allocated for this round was approx. € 3,5 million. 101 applications were filed by a vast range of projects. These are now being evaluated by the Focal Point in Slovenia, and the projects recommended are expected to be finally evaluated by the Financial Mechanism Office in the near future. No projects are so far finally confirmed from the second round.
After a call for proposals has been made public, the Focal Point receives applications from various projects. In Slovenia the Government Office For European Affairs acts as the Focal Point and their task is to evaluate all the projects by several criterea in order to establish a shortlist of projects eligible for support. A Committee is then appointed by the Focal Point and it makes the final recommendations. Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) receives their recommendations and makes the final evaluation and decision. The decision is then made public and the National Fund, an entity within the Slovenian Ministry of Finance distributes the funds to the respective projects.
Any legal institution working for the public interest in Slovenia can apply for a grant. In other words, NGO’s, private and public institutions, or public-private partnerships, for instance educational institutions, environmental institutions, cultural institutions, restoration works in the municipalities and so on. See links for more information on how to apply for a grant, application procedures etc.
There are also other funds available under the EEA Grants. Approximately € 1,7 million will be used for the funding of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) in Slovenia. This fund will be distributed by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC Slovenia). The NGO-fund amounts to 10 % of the EEA Grants. Spring 2008 the NGO Fund was launced, and the result from the first call for tender has been announced. The second call for tender can be expected autumn 2008. Applications for support from this fund do not have to go through the same process of evaluation as the individual projects.
There will also be a Fund for co-operation among educational and research institutions available to students and researchers in Slovenia. This fund will support researchers and students with scholarships for an exhange period in Norway. And in addition, a Technical expert fund is available. These two funds amount to approximately 10 % of the total grants.