• Full house at EFTA seminar on the EEA   13.09.2018
    Andri Lúthersson, Deputy Secretary-General, talked about Brexit implications for EEA and the EFTA States.

    It was a full house at the EFTA Secretariat in Brussels as more than 140 participants gathered for the seminar on the European Economic Area (EEA) on 13 September 2018.

  • EEA EFTA Comment on explosives precursors   10.08.2018

    On 10 August 2018, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway submitted a joint EEA EFTA Comment on the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on the marketing and use of explosives precursors. The Comment was addressed to a broad group of relevant, institutional stakeholders including the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission.

  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force in the EEA   19.07.2018

    The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 entered into force in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway on 20 July 2018.

  • General Data Protection Regulation incorporated into the EEA Agreement   06.07.2018
    From left: Oda Sletnes, Ambassador of Norway and Chair of the Joint Committee, Kristinn F. Árnason, EFTA Secretary-General, Dag Wernø Holter, EFTA Deputy Secretary-General.

    The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was among 69 EU legal acts incorporated into the EEA Agreement by the EEA Joint Committee in Brussels on 6 July 2018. The regulation will enter into force in all three EEA EFTA States mid-July.

  • Workshop on how to influence EEA legislation   27.06.2018
    Icelandic Ambassador to the EU Bergdís Ellertsdóttir

    On 14 June 2018, more than 100 participants, mainly from the EFTA Member States, took part in a full-day workshop on decision shaping in the EEA.

  • EFTA Working Group discuss Financial Technology   18.06.2018
    The Principality of Liechtenstein hosted around 40 experts from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

    On 12 and 13 June 2018 the EFTA Financial Services Working Group met in Liechtenstein to discuss challenges and opportunities within the field of financial technology (FinTech).

  • EEA EFTA Comment on the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) and the Cybersecurity Act   06.06.2018

    On 6 June 2018, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein submitted a joint EEA EFTA Comment on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) ( the ‘EU Cybersecurity Agency’) and repealing Regulation (EU) 526/2013 , and on the Information and Communication Technology cybersecurity certification (“Cybersecurity Act”) (COM(2017) 477 final).

  • EEA EFTA Comment on the ‘Goods Package’   05.06.2018

  • The EEA Joint Committee incorporates 22 EMIR acts   31.05.2018
    Mr Jérémie Viailly, Budget Officer in the MFF unit in DG Budget, European Commission, provided a briefing on the new proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.

    The Standing Committee and the EEA Joint Committee met in Brussels on 31 May. At the Joint Committee meeting, 20 joint committee decisions (JCDs) were adopted incorporating 40 EU legal acts into the EEA Agreement, including a package of 22 level 2 acts related to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) that was incorporated into the Agreement in 2017.

  • EEA Ministers discuss Brexit and ESAs   23.05.2018
    From left: Ine Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Michel Barnier, Chief Brexit Negotiator of the EU.

    At the 49th meeting of the EEA Council, which took place in Brussels on 23 May 2018, EEA EFTA Ministers discussed the implications for the EEA Agreement of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU with their EU counterparts. The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) were also on the agenda.