First Joint Committee meeting in 2023 at the Berlaymont

From left to right: Kaja Moe Winther - Counsellor at the Mission of Norway to the EU, Rolf Einar Fife - Ambassador of Norway to the EU, Henri Gétaz - EFTA Secretary-General

The EEA Joint Committee met for the first time in 2023 on 3 February in the EU Commission’s Berlaymont building in Brussels. The meeting was presided over by Nicolas von Lingen on behalf of the European Commission. Norway’s Ambassador to the EU Rolf Einar Fife co-chaired the meeting on behalf of the EEA EFTA States.

In the meeting, 28 Joint Committee Decisions were adopted, incorporating 45 EU legal acts into the EEA Agreement. After today’s meeting, 569 EU legal acts are pending incorporation.

The NIS Directive and the Cybersecurity Act were among the acts incorporated today in addition to the Cybersecurity Competence Centre Regulation, strengthening the resilience and security of digital infrastructure and services in the entire EEA.

Another important decision amends the EEA EFTA States’ association arrangements with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) as established by Regulation (EU) 2019/128. CEDEFOP helps develop and implement EU vocational training policies. Liechtenstein joins Iceland and Norway as a participant in the agency’s activities and certain provisions are aligned with the common approach on decentralised agencies, in particular as regards the EEA EFTA States’ financial contribution.

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.