One of the EU directives incorporated into the EEA Agreement on 1 February 2013 allows national authorities to exempt micro-entities or small companies with less than ten employees from the obligation to publish their annual accounts. It is, however, up to each country to decide whether or not to make use of this option.

The Subcommittees met on 22 January 2013 with the European External Action Service (EEAS) and discussed the state of play of acts being considered for incorporation into the EEA Agreement, parliamentary procedures for adopted EEA Joint Committee Decisions and a number of draft EEA Joint Committee Decisions currently under discussion with the EU. An EEA EFTA Comment on the proposal of the European Parliament and of the Council on periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers submitted to the EU side on 18 December 2012 was noted.

In an EEA EFTA Comment to the Commission’s proposal for changes to the EU safety regulation on vehicle checks, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have expressed their opinion that the frequency of periodic testing should remain the same. The proposal will be discussed by EU Transport Ministers tomorrow, 20 December 2012.

The EFTA Standing Comm­ittee and EEA Joint Comm­ittee met in Brussels on 7 December 2012. Norway chaired both the Standing Committee and, on behalf of the EEA EFTA States, the Joint Committee.