EFTA Standing and EEA Joint Committees meet on 14 and 15 June 2012

In the Standing Committee, the Norwegian delegation gave a briefing on the visit of the UK Prime Minister to Norway and the meeting of the Norwegian and British Prime Ministers with the German Chancellor in Berlin.

The Icelandic delegate reported on the status of Iceland’s accession process to the EU, and a related visit of the EU Enlargement Commissioner to Iceland while the Secretary-General updated the Standing Committee on latest developments in third-country relations, including the ongoing negotiations with Indonesia.

Finally, the Chair of the Standing Committee bid farewell to Jacques de Watteville, Swiss Ambassador to the EU, and welcomed his successor, Roberto Balzaretti.

In the Joint Committee meeting, 19 decisions were adopted incorporating 48 legal acts into the EEA Agreement. One of these decisions, on the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive, is described in more detail in a separate news item on this website. The meeting schedule for the second half of 2012 was also approved by the Joint Committee.

Finally, the parties took stock of the state of play regarding the processing of new acquis under the Agreement.