EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA

The 'European Economic Area' ('EEA') came into being on January 1, 1994 following an agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU). It was designed to allow EFTA countries to participate in the European Single Market without having to join the EU.

Contents

Membership

EEA freedoms

EEA legislation

Institutions

See also

External links

References

Membership

In an obligatory referendum, Switzerland's citizens chose not to participate in the EEA. Instead, the Swiss are linked to the European Union by Swiss-EU bilateral agreements, with a different content from that of the EEA agreement.
The current members of the EEA, contracting parties, are three of the four EFTA states - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, without Switzerland – and the 27 EU Member States along with the European Community.
:''See also: Enlargement to EFTA states''

EEA freedoms

The EEA is based on four "freedoms": the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital among the EEA countries. Although the countries enjoy free trade with European Union member countries, they have to adopt a large amount of European law. EEA states have little influence on the decision-making process in Brussels.
On the other hand, the EEA countries have none of the financial burdens associated with EU membership, although the member countries contribute financially to the Internal Market. After the EU/EEA enlargement of 2004 there was a tenfold increase in the financial contribution of the EEA States, in particular Norway, to social and economic cohesion in the Internal Market (€1167 million over five years). Unlike EU members, they do not get any money back via policies and development funds; it is purely for access to the European market.

EEA legislation

The non EU members of the EEA have agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in the areas of social policy, consumer protection, environment, company law and statistics. (1. pillar)
These three members states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have no representation in EU Institutions such as the European Parliament or European Commission. In February 2001, former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg described the situation as a “fax democracy”, with Norway waiting for their latest legislation to be faxed from the Commission.^[1]

Institutions

A Joint Committee consisting of the EEA-EFTA States plus the European Commission (representing the EU) has the function of extending relevant EU law to the non EU members. An EEA Council meets twice yearly to govern the overall relationship between the EEA members.
Rather than setting up pan-EEA institutions, the activities of the EEA are regulated by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court, which parallel the work of the EU's European Commission and European Court of Justice. See EEA institutions for further information.

See also

★ Trade bloc

★ Parallel importation

★ Schengen Treaty

★ Iceland and the European Union

★ Norway and the European Union

★ Liechtenstein and the European Union

★ Switzerland and the European Union

★ EudraVigilance

★ European Free Trade Area

★ Central European Free Trade Agreement

★ Enlargement to EFTA states

External links

★ European Economic Area ec.europa.eu

References

1. In Norway, EU pros and cons (the cons still win) iht.com