Guidance on Closure

The Regulation on the implementation of the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and the Regulation on the implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 (‘Regulations’) contain provisions on obligations that

• the Programme Operators,
• the National Focal Points,
• the Irregularities Authorities,
• the Certifying Authorities, and
• the Audit Authorities

must undertake during programme development, implementation and closure.

The purpose of this Guidance is to give the relevant national entities an overview of the main tasks that need to be completed in the closure phase of the programme, and by which time, before and after the Final Programme Report is submitted to the Donors and a programme is closed.

This document also covers the basic elements of:

• the submission of the final Strategic Report by the National Focal Point and closure of the Bilateral Fund,
• the closure of the Technical Assistance Fund

This document does not address the closure of programmes directly contracted by the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO).

This is a non-legally binding Guidance document. However, it does contain references to binding rules stipulated in the applicable legal framework, including in guidelines and instructions provided by the Donors. In the event of any discrepancies between this document and the Regulations, the Regulations prevail.