The EEA Agreement was signed in Porto on 2 May 1992 by the seven countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the European Community (EC) and its 12 member states at the time. [16] [17] On 6 December 1992, the Swiss electorate rejected the ratification of the agreement by referendum ordered by the Constitution[18], effectively freezing the application for EC membership submitted at the beginning of the year. Rather, Switzerland is linked to the EU by a series of bilateral agreements. On 1 January 1995, three former EFTA members – Austria, Finland and Sweden – joined the European Union, which had replaced the European Community with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on 1 November 1993. Liechtenstein`s participation in the EEA has been postponed until 1 May 1995. [19] Any European State that becomes a member of the EU or a member of EFTA may apply to become a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement in accordance with Article 128 of the Agreement. [20] In 1992, the seven EFTA members at the time negotiated an agreement enabling them to participate in the European Community`s ambitious internal market project, launched in 1985 and concluded at the end of 1992. The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) was signed on 2 May 1992 and entered into force on 1 January 1994. However, the number of EEA-EFTA members was quickly reduced: Switzerland decided not to ratify the agreement after a negative referendum on the issue, and Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union in 1995. Only Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein remained in the EEA. The 10 new Member States that will join the EU on 1.
Bulgaria and Romania became members of the EEA when they joined the EU in 2007 and Croatia in 2013[1]. Switzerland is not part of the EEA Agreement, but has concluded a number of bilateral agreements with the EU. Further information on these agreements can be found on the website of the European Commission and on the website of the Swiss Federal Administration. The European Economic Area (EEA) is an international agreement that allows the extension of the Internal Market of the European Union (EU) to non-EU member states. E2open follows the developments of the EEA with great interest on the part of E2open employees of internal trade specialists. Knowing what the EEA is, what the difference is with the EU and how the two systems interact with each other is crucial for our trade specialists who provide up-to-date content to their Global Knowledge database®. We even visited the EEA Secretariat in Brussels to get an in-depth understanding of the agreement and how it integrates Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway into the EU`s single market. In 2020[Update], the EEA Contracting Parties are three of the four EFTA Member States and the 27 EU Member States. [21] The youngest EU member, Croatia, concluded negotiations for accession to the EEA in November 2013[22] and provisionally applied the agreement of 12 April 2014 until it is ratified by all EEA Member States. [4] [13] Although the two are closely related, the EEA and the EU are not identical. The EEA Agreement refers to the internal market and related legislation, while the EU is both economic and political in nature. All the regulations that EEA countries must comply with are formed by the EU, which means that EEA/EFTA countries have no say in the design of the laws they have to implement.
EEA countries must also make financial contributions to the EU, although less than the contributions of an EU member. No, this is not an automatic process, but it requires review and acceptance by the three countries in talks with the EU. First, recently published EU legislation will be analysed to determine its “relevance to the EEA”. Only EU internal market regulations would fall within the scope of the EEA Agreement. Customs and trade regulations are generally excluded because the three countries do not participate and have their own policies. Once “relevance” is determined, it is decided whether changes need to be made. These can be technical or essential. If only on the technical level, a new “eea law” is adopted quickly. Then the ratification process can begin in the capitals of the three EEA countries. During the consultation, concerns were expressed about the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the EU. On 27 September 2020, a referendum on the termination of the FMOP agreement with the EU took place in Switzerland, supported by the SVP.
Nearly 62% of voters rejected the SVP`s initiative. The EU hopes that the outcome of this vote will pave the way for a swift transition to the signature and ratification of the IFA. When it entered into force in 1994, the parties to the EEA consisted of 17 States and two European Communities: the European Community, which was later incorporated into the broader EU framework, and the defunct European Coal and Steel Community. The number of members has increased to 30 states by 2020: 27 EU Member States and three of the four EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). [8] The agreement will be provisionally applied to Croatia, the last and youngest EU Member State, until all EEA Contracting Parties have ratified its accession. [4] [13] The UK will remain a member of the EEA on a transitional basis after leaving the EU on 31 January 2020 and entering a transitional period ending on 31 December 2020. During the transition, the EEA Agreement will remain unchanged and will continue to apply both to the other EEA Members and to the United Kingdom, with the United Kingdom continuing to be treated as an EEA State. [14] One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not acceded to the EEA but has concluded a number of bilateral sectoral agreements with the EU allowing it to participate in the internal market. As a member of EFTA, Switzerland participated in the negotiations on the EEA Agreement and signed the Agreement on 2 May 1992. Immediately afterwards, on 22 May 1992, the Swiss Government submitted an application for EU membership.
However, following a referendum on 6 December 1992, which led to a vote against participation in the EEA, the Federal Council suspended the country`s accession to the EU and the EEA. Since then, Switzerland has expanded its relations with the EU through bilateral agreements aimed at ensuring its economic integration with the EU. Bilateral relations have been strained following the anti-immigration initiative of February 2014, the outcome of which called into question the principles of free movement and the internal market that underpin these relations. On the 16th. In December 2016, the Swiss Parliament adopted the Aliens Act, which implemented the result of the 2014 referendum in a way that limited its impact, paving the way for the beginning of the normalization of relations between the EU and Switzerland. The original plan for the EEA lacked the EFTA Court of Justice or the EFTA Surveillance Authority, as the “EEA Court” (composed of five members of the Court of Justice of the European Union and three members of the EFTA countries and would be functionally integrated into the CJEU)[75] and the European Commission had to carry out these tasks. However, during the negotiations on the EEA Agreement, the Court of Justice of the European Communities informed the Council of the European Union (Opinion 1/91) that it considered that the jurisdiction of the EEA court in respect of UNION law, which would form part of EEA law, would constitute an infringement of the Treaties and that, therefore, the current regime was developed instead. After negotiations with the Authority, the CJEU confirmed its legality in Opinion 1/92.
The European Economic Area (EEA) was created by the Agreement on the European Economic Area, an international agreement that allows the extension of the European Union`s internal market to the member states of the European Free Trade Association. [7] The EEA links the EU Member States and three EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) in an internal market subject to the same basic rules. The United Kingdom benefits from this relationship during the transition/transposition period provided for in the Treaties. [2] These rules aim to allow the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital within the European internal market, including the free choice of residence in each country in that zone. The EEA was created on the 1st. It was set up in January 1994 with the entry into force of the EEA Agreement. The contracting parties are the EU, its Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the United Kingdom. [8] But what about the EU`s close neighbours? Although they are smaller and little mentioned, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are still economically important. Did you know that the benefits of this single market also extend to these three non-EU countries? Together with the EU Member States, they are part of the so-called European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA brings together the EU Member States and the three EEA EFTA States into a single market subject to the same basic rules. The agreement that manages this relationship is rightly called the EEA Agreement. The aim is to create a homogeneous European Economic Area.
As such, all relevant EU legislation in the field of the internal market is incorporated into the EEA Agreement, so that it applies throughout the EEA and ensures uniform application of internal market legislation. The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) is a 1992 agreement that integrates the Member States of the European Union (EU) and three States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – into a single market. .