European Economic Area

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EFTA countries (except Switzerland) EU countries Together these form the EEA.

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.

1 Membership
2 EEA freedoms
3 EEA legislation
4 Institutions
5 See also
6 References

[edit] 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.

[edit] EEA freedoms

The EEA is based on four "freedoms": the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital among the EEA countries. The countries enjoy free trade with European Union member countries, but 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. However the EEA countries contribute financially to the Internal Market. For example after the EU/EEA enlargement of 2004 there was a ten-fold increase in the financial contribution of the EEA States, in particular Norway, to social and economic cohesion in the Internal Market (1167 M€ over five years).

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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 EFTA for further information.