• EFTA Standing and EEA Joint Committees meet on 9 and 10 February 2012   10.02.2012
    Ambassador Thorir Ibsen (centre), The Icelandic Mission to the EU, chairing the meeting of the EFTA Standing Committee, with Deputy Head of the Icelandic Mission, Nikulas Hannigan (right), and Secretary-General of the EFTA Secretariat, Kåre Bryn (left).

    The EFTA Standing Committee and EEA Joint Committee met in Brussels on 9 and 10 February, respectively. Iceland chaired the Standing Committee and represented the EEA EFTA States in the Joint Committee under the chairmanship of the European External Action Service.

  • EFTA Seminar – presentation of the report by the Norwegian EEA Review Committee   20.01.2012
    Chairman of the Norwegian EEA Review Committee, Professor Fredrik Sejersted

    On 19 January 2012, a record 170 participants from both the public and private sectors attended the EFTA Secretariat’s biannual seminar on the EEA. The first part of the seminar was dedicated to presentations on the EFTA Secretariat, the EFTA Court, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, the EFTA Statistical Office and the EFTA Financial Mechanism Office. These focused on the day-to-day management of the EEA Agreement in the different institutions’ respective areas of competence.

  • EEA EFTA States comment on capital requirements   13.01.2012

    Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway support the trans­position of the Basel III minimum capital require­ments into EU legislation. However, they believe that each EEA Member State must retain the necessary competence to set higher capital requirements where it is appropriate, based on financial stability considerations.

  • Rules incorporated on the safety of air travel   20.12.2011

    Yesterday, the EEA Joint Committee decided to incor­porate three regulations to ensure a high level of safety in the European civil aviation sector.

  • Directive on the promotion of renewable energy incorporated   20.12.2011

    The EEA Joint Committee decided yesterday to incor­porate the Directive on the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources (RES Directive) into the EEA Agreement. Norway and Iceland have had the highest share of renewable energy in their power consumption in the European Economic Area (EEA).

  • EEA EFTA States comment on proposed directive on orphan works   13.12.2011

    Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway welcome the overall aim to facilitate the online accessibility of European cultural content and the preservation of digital material. Their opinion is expressed in a recent comment to the European Commission’s proposal for a direct­ive on certain permitted uses of orphan works.

  • Exchanging views on Common European Sales Law   08.12.2011
    Working Group on Consumer Affairs and Vice President of the European Parliament, Diana Wallis

    The EFTA Working Group on Consumer Affairs met on 5 and 6 December 2011. One of the main points on the agenda was the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (CESL) which was put forward by the Commission on 11 October 2011.

  • High-speed mobile service directive extended to the EEA   02.12.2011

    The EEA Joint Committee decided on 1 December 2011 to incorporate a European directive concerning frequen­cy bands for third-generation (3G) mobile networks into the EEA Agreement. The directive brings the current GSM directive from 1987 up to date and also prepares for future 4G networks.

  • EFTA Standing and EEA Joint Committees met on 1 December 2011   02.12.2011
    Ambassador Kurt Jäger, Liechtenstein, chairing the EEA Joint Committee meeting

    The EFTA Standing Committee and EEA Joint Committee met in Brussels on 1 December. Liechtenstein was Chair both of the Standing Committee and, on behalf of the EEA EFTA States, of the Joint Committee.

  • Highlights from Subcommittees I-IV meeting and Joint Subcommittees I-IV meeting on 28 November 2011   29.11.2011
    EU Chair, Mr Gianluca Grippa, and EEA EFTA Chair, Mr Per Strand Sjaastad

    The delegations discussed legislative acts currently under consideration by the EFTA side, including the Regulations establishing the three Financial Supervisory Authorities and the European Systemic Risk Board, and the revised Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) along with related acts. The Third Legislative Energy Package, the Community Legal Framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), the Paediatric Regulation and the Goods Package were also topics of discussion.