The Ambassadors pointed out what their governments had done so far to stem the impact of the crisis on their respective economies and listened to the views and specific concerns of the social partners, among others with regard to the impact of the crisis on their labour markets. The Consultative Committee underlined the top priority of now keeping people in jobs and maintaining a high level of employment. It would also be important to turn the crisis into something positive for the future, among others by using national stimulus packages to invest in more research and innovation, eduction, and in "greening" the economy.

The two Committees also discussed the ongoing negotiations on a possible extension of the financial mechanisms, the performance of the EEA EFTA States in the latest Single Market scoreboard, and EEA EFTA participation in programmes and agencies. The Consultative Committee welcomed the initiative by the Norwegian government to include decent work and social dialogue as a specific priority area in the future financial mechanisms and hoped this would be accepted by the EU side. At the same time, the Committee regretted that the EEA EFTA States, despite repeated efforts by the Standing Committee, had not managed to secure EEA EFTA participation in the EU Gender Institute and in EU executive agencies, and urged the Ambassadors to try to find solutions with the EU side on these two issues in the coming weeks.