The EEA JPC is an advisory body comprising members of the national parliaments of the EEA EFTA States and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Its primary objective is to follow developments in the EEA and to give its views on these at the earliest stage possible.
The JPC met with representatives from the EEA Council and the EEA Joint Committee (EEA JC) and one of the main messages the parliamentarians conveyed was that the number of legal acts awaiting incorporation in the EEA Agreement is too high – especially in the area of financial services.
Resolution calls for more rapid incorporation of legal acts
The Resolution on the EEA Joint Committee’s (EEA JC’s) Annual Report on the Functioning of the EEA Agreement in 2016 was presented by co-rapporteurs Mr Elfried Hasler, Member of the Liechtenstein Parliament, and Mr Jørn Dohrmann MEP.
In the Resolution, the EEA JPC regrets that the number of legal acts awaiting incorporation (‘backlog’) increased in 2016, compared to 2015. In this regard, the Resolution “reiterates the common interest of both the European Union and the EEA EFTA States in the timely incorporation of legislative acts and urges therefore the EEA JC to find pragmatic solutions for the legal acts that have been pending incorporation for a long time.”
Furthermore, the EEA JPC welcomed the incorporation of the legal acts on EEA EFTA participation in the EU financial authorities, but underlines “the urgent need to ensure the swift incorporation of the remaining legal acts in the area of financial services in order to safeguard a homogenous and well-functioning Internal Market.”
The Resolution, which will be forwarded to the EEA Council, also reiterates “that the EEA EFTA States participate fully in the Single Market through the EEA Agreement, and […] a UK withdrawal from the EU will have a direct impact on the EEA Agreement and the EEA EFTA States”. It encourages close dialogue between the EEA EFTA States and the EU with regard to the upcoming negotiations..
“The discussions on Brexit stands out as the highlight of this meeting, as it affects directly the EEA Agreement. Our aim is to protect the EEA Agreement and to arrange new trade agreements with the UK, which is a very important trading partner for the EFTA States”. says the current EEA JPC President, Mr Svein Roald Hansen.
The EEA Council and the EEA JC was represented at the meeting by Mr Rylan Patissier, representing the EU President of the EEA Council; Ambassador Oda Helen Sletnes, EFTA Chair of the EEA Council and Mr Claude Maerten, EU President of the EEA Joint Committee. Mr Maerten described the EEA EFTA States as the EU’s most solid partners.
From left: MEPs Catherine Stihler, Christel Schaldemose, Jill Evans.
Discussed recent proposals on clean energy legislation
The JPC received a presentation on the recent proposals under the Energy Union with regard to clean energy for all Europeans from Ms Megan Richards, Director for Energy Policy at the European Commission. Ms Ragna Árnadóttir, Deputy CEO of Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland, also participated at the meeting and presented the energy landscape of Iceland.
The parliamentarians also discussed the recent proposals on social security coordination where Ms Christel Schaldemose, Member of the European Parliament, briefed the JPC on the recent developments and discussions in the European Parliament. A presentation on the rights of economically inactive persons in the EEA was also given by Ms Karin Fløistad, lawyer at the Norwegian law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig.
Challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region were presented by Mr Níels Einarsson, Director of the Stefánsson Arctic Institute, and Mr Fernando Garces De Los Fayos, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Parliament.
The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Svein Roald Hansen, EEA JPC President and Member of the Norwegian Parliament, and Mr Jørn Dorhmann, EEA JPC Vice President and MEP from Denmark. Afterwards, participants enjoyed a visit to the President of Iceland, Mr Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, at the Presidential Residence, Bessastaðir.
The next EEA JPC meeting will take place in Strasbourg on 15 and 16 November 2017.
Svein Roald Hansen, EEA JPC President, Gudni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland, and participants in the EEA JPC meeting in Reykjavik, 23 May 2017.
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