EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee adopts three resolutions

Under the chairmanship of Mr Pat the Cope Gallagher (MEP, ALDE, Ireland), with Co-chair Mr Svein Roald Hansen (MP, Labour Party, Norway), the EEA JPC adopted three reports and resolutions, namely on:

• The future of the EEA and the EU's relations with the small-sized countries and Switzerland
• Transport policy in the European Economic Area
• The Annual Report of the EEA Joint Committee on the functioning of the EEA Agreement in 2012

The EEA JPC also engaged in a discussion with representatives of the EEA Council, the EEA Joint Committee and the EFTA Surveillance Authority on the development and functioning of the EEA Agreement in general.

Furthermore, the Ambassadors of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino participated in the meeting, informing the EEA JPC about the current state of play in their countries’ relations with the European Union and future prospects for integration into the Internal Market.

The EEA JPC also discussed the revision of the state aid rule with European Commission representatives, in particular the guidelines for regional aid.

The European Parliament rapporteur presented the key elements of his report on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on Europol, and agreed that it would be beneficial to include representatives of the EFTA States’ national parliaments as observers in the structure to be set up for parliamentary scrutiny of Europol.

Members of the Swiss Parliament attended the meeting as observers.

The next EEA JPC meeting is scheduled to take place in Liechtenstein on 28 and 29 October 2013.

Click here for high resolution pictures from the meeting.