European Economic Area

EEA

The European Economic Area (EEA) unites the 27 EU Member States and the three EEA EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) into an Internal Market governed by the same basic rules. These rules aim to enable goods, services, capital, and persons to move freely about the EEA in an open and competitive environment, a concept referred to as the four freedoms. Read more...

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In this section

EEA Agreement

The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) brings together the 27 EU Member States and the three EEA EFTA States. Read more about the Agreement in this section.

EEA Institutions

The decision-making process in the EEA Agreement is characterised by its two-pillar structure. Read more about the EEA institutions in this section.

Legal Texts

You can find the legal texts related to the European Economic Area (EEA) here.

EEA Supplements to the Official Journal of the European Union

Find the EEA Supplements to the Official Journal of the European Union in this section.

Policy Areas

This section contains an overview of EFTA's policy areas, sorted by the four freedoms, with links to more detailed explanations.

EFTA National Experts

See the entire list and contact details of the EEA EFTA national experts in this section.

Influencing the EU - EEA Decision Shaping

Decision shaping is the phase of preparatory work undertaken by the European Commission to draw up new legislative proposals. The EEA Agreement contains provisions for input from the EEA EFTA side at various stages before new legislation is adopted. Read more about desicion shaping in this section.

EU Programmes with EEA EFTA Participation

The EEA Agreement ensures participation by the three EEA EFTA States in a number of EU programmes and agencies. See which programmes and agencies and what they involve in this section.

EU Agencies

A number of specialised EU agencies have been established to support the EU Member States and their citizens. The EEA EFTA States participate in the agencies below through decisions of the EEA Joint Committee. In addition, bilateral agreements with the EU ensure the participation of individual EFTA States in several other EU agencies.

EEA EFTA Comments

One of the ways in which the EEA EFTA States participate in shaping EC legislation, i.e. when the Commission is drawing up legislative proposals, is by submitting comments on important policy issues.

Seminars

The EFTA Secretariat in Brussels organises a biannual seminar on the EEA and EFTA. The aim of the seminar is to provide professionals with a thorough overview of the EEA, including its structure and procedures.

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