Framework have been Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. During the period 2009-2014, €993 million were set aside, with Norway sponsoring 94% of the fund. Once more the EU Commission plays an instrumental role, as the size of the funding allocated to each Member State is negotiated between the sponsor countries and the European Commission. This then serves as a framework for negotiation with each individual country to agree on the funded programs. Once an agreement has been reached, a “Memorandum of Understanding” is signed between the EEA Grant Scheme and the beneficiary country. During the period 2009-2014, EUR 63 million were allocated to Greece. Of those, EUR 21 million were invested in Greece’s asylum policy and assisted voluntary returns. In fact, Greece's asylum and migration policy absorbed 2.1% of the whole 2009-2014 EEA Grant Budget. Table 6. EEA Grants allocated to Greece (2009-2014) Program 1 Program 2 Cost Item Cost Item 1,115,000 IOM Assisted Voluntary Return 4,000,000 Interpretation at Asylum Service 2,234,248 UNHCR Capacity-Building asylum reform 4,874,760 272 places in open reception 1,000,000 facilities (2013-2016) Temporary shelter unaccompanied minors 125,359 Seminars Program management for 9,000,000 734,176 First Reception persons capacity TOTAL COST: EUR 8,349,367 TOTAL COST: EUR 14,734,176 (EEA Grant 100%: EUR 8,349,367 ) (EEA Grant 85% : EUR 12,524,050) Service- 240 for Concluding Remarks Taking into account the aforementioned figures, during the period 2008-2013 Greece received in terms of direct grants around EUR 432 million. Depending on whether we take into account also indirect contributions, Greece’s main sponsorship could be schematically presented as follows. Page 24