Everything about The European Economic Area totally explained
The
European Economic Area (
EEA) came into being on
January 1,
1994 following an agreement between member states of
European Free Trade Association (EFTA),
the
European Community (EC), and all member states of the
European Union (EU). It allows these EFTA countries to participate in the European
single market without joining the EU.
Membership
The contracting parties to the EEA Agreement are three of the four EFTA states —
Iceland,
Liechtenstein and
Norway — and the 27 EU
Member States along with the
European Community.
Switzerland isn't part of the EEA. A
referendum (mandated by the Swiss constitution) was held and rejected the proposal to join.
Switzerland is linked to the
European Union by
Swiss-EU bilateral agreements, with a different content from that of the EEA agreement.
» See also: Enlargement to EFTA states
EEA freedoms and obligations
The EEA is based on the same
"four freedoms"
as the
European Community: the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital among the EEA countries. Thus, the EFTA countries that are part of the EEA enjoy free trade with the European Union.
As a counterpart, these countries have to adopt part of the
Law of the European Union.
These states have little influence on decision-making processes in
Brussels.
The EFTA countries that are part of the EEA don't bear the financial burdens associated with EU membership, although they contribute financially to the European
single 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).
EFTA countries don't receive any funding from EU policies and development funds.
EEA legislation
The non EU members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) 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. These are some of the areas covered by the
European Community (the "first pillar" of the
European Union).
The non EU members of the EEA have no representation in
Institutions of the European Union such as the
European Parliament or
European Commission. In February 2001,
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.
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'European Economic Area'.
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