At its 35th meeting on 23 May 2011 in Brussels, the EEA Council discussed the overall functioning of the EEA Agreement, Europe 2020, energy and climate change, and the financial crisis and implications for EEA cooperation, including regulation of the financial system. The EEA Council noted the Council Conclusions of December 2010, in particular that EU relations with the EFTA countries, which were already considered to be very good and close in 2008, had further intensified over the past two years.

The EFTA Standing Committee and EEA Joint Committees met in Brussels on 19 and 20 May 2011 respectively. The EEA EFTA States met in the Standing Committee to prepare for the EEA Joint Committee. On high level meetings and EFTA activities, the Icelandic delegation informed the Standing Committee about the meeting of the Minister of Economy with his counterparts in ECOFIN, the Norwegian delegation reported on Foreign Minister Støre's meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Martonyi, and the EFTA Secretary-General reported on third-country relations.

Reducing the number of dropouts and securing the completion of studies and the quality of education and training at all levels should have high priority in future EU programmes in the field of education, training and youth (2014-2020), according to comments presented today by the EEA EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

The EFTA Standing and EEA Joint Committees met in Brussels on 31 March and 1 April 2011 respectively. In preparation for the meeting of the EEA Joint Committee, the EEA EFTA States met in the Standing Committee to verify and approve the 73 legal acts to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement. One of the decisions relates to the inclusion of aviation activities in the EU Emissions Trading System (see separate news item).