On March 7th, 2018, the first Cooperation Committee Meeting for the Programme "Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups", financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014 – 2021, took place in the Ministry of Education and Science.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Programme Operator (Ministry of Education and Science) and its foreign partners in the programme management (the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities and the Council of Europe), as well as by representatives of the National Focal Point in the Administration of the Council of Ministers and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway.
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss and achieve a common understanding of the rules for its future activities, the procedures for the use of the Bilateral Fund and the documents related to the forthcoming signature of the Programme Agreement between the donor-countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and the Republic of Bulgaria for the implementation of the Programme "Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups" with a total budget of 41 176 470 euros.