EEA Joint Committee incorporates 86 EU legal acts into the EEA Agreement including security of ID cards

From left to right: Pascal Schafhauser - Ambassador of Liechtenstein, Henri Gétaz - EFTA Secretary-General, Andri Lúthersson - EFTA Deputy Secretary-General

The EEA Joint Committee met for the second time in 2023 on 17 March in the EU Commission’s Berlaymont building in Brussels. The meeting was presided over by Nicolas von Lingen of the Secretariat of the European Commission. Liechtenstein’s Ambassador to the EU Pascal Schafhauser co-chaired the meeting on behalf of the EEA EFTA States.

In the meeting, 46 Joint Committee decisions were adopted, incorporating 86 EU legal acts into the EEA Agreement. After today’s meeting, the number of EU acts outstanding that have not yet been incorporated will go down to 547. Regulation 2019/1157 on the security of identity cards and a Commission Decision setting up the Radio Spectrum Policy Group were among the incorporated acts.

The Regulation on the security of identity cards aims to improve the security of ID cards and residence documents issued to Union citizens by introducing minimum standards both for the information contained in them and for security features common to all Member States that issue them.

The Radio Spectrum Policy Group assists the Commission in the development of radio spectrum policy. It is a high-level advisory group consisting of representatives of the Member States.  The EFTA States participate fully in the Radio Spectrum Policy Group and have the same rights and obligations as EU Member States, except for the right to vote.

The EEA Joint Committee is responsible for the management of the EEA Agreement and is a forum in which views are exchanged and decisions are taken by consensus to incorporate EU legislation into the EEA Agreement. The committee is comprised of the ambassadors of the EEA EFTA States and representatives of the Secretariat-General of the European Commission.

Find photos from the meeting here.