49th Annual Report of The European Free Trade Association 2009

49TH ANNUAL REPORT 2009OF THE EUROPEAN FREETRADE ASSOCIATION

2306-RAPPORT-2010-08:1897-THIS-IS-EFTA-24 12/05/10 12:54

Annual Report of the European Free Trade Association 2009

For basic information on EFTA, please see the publication ‘This is EFTA’. Further information is alsoavailable on our website: www.efta.int/

• Editor: Tore Grønningsæter

• Co-Editor: Pascal Gruber

• Printed by Drifosett, BrusselsLayout by Orangemetalic

• Printed May 2010

Cover picture: Jökulsárlón, Iceland

You can get more copies of this issue free of charge by contacting [email protected]


made available for the period2004-2009. In December 2009an agreement was reachedbetween the EEA EFTA Statesand the EU on a total of almost€1.79 billion for the period2009-2014. The 15 beneficiarystates are the same as in theprevious five-year period.

On 1 July 2009, EFTA’s FTA with Canada entered intoforce. It is Canada’s first Agreement with Europeancountries and is focused on trade in goods, including fishand other marine products. Canada is among EFTA’s topexport destinations outside the EU.

The EFTA States finalised their free trade negotiationswith the Gulf Cooperation Council, Albania and Serbiaand Agreements were signed at the EFTA Ministerialmeetings in June and December. Negotiations with Peruwere concluded and a FTA is foreseen to be signed at theEFTA Ministerial in June 2010. Negotiations were startedwith Ukraine and further progress was made with India.

EFTA was also engaged in several other free tradeprocesses. A Joint Declaration on Cooperation was signedwith Mauritius in June and a declaration was discussedwith Malaysia. The necessary steps were taken to opennegotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with Hong KongChina, while dialogues on closer trade relations wereongoing with Indonesia and Russia.

It is vital that EFTA maintain an active free trade policy forthe benefit of the trading companies in the EFTA MemberStates. EFTA also continues to support a robustmultilateral trading system which is particularly importantin order to contain protectionist pressures. The EFTAStates therefore remain strong supporters of the WorldTrade Organization and the conclusion of the Doha Round.

During the year 2009, every endeavour has been made bythe two Deputy Secretaries-General and me to furtherimprove the efficiency of the EFTA Secretariat to thebenefit of the EFTA States. We are pleased with the results,and these efforts will continue to be pursued in 2010.

Kåre Bryn

Secretary-General

Dear reader,

2009 was a productive year for the European Free TradeAssociation. However, the EFTA Member States havealso, to varying degrees, been affected by the most severeworld economic crisis since the 1930s. Iceland applied forEU membership in July, and negotiations are expected tostart in 2010.

Substantial progress was made both in the EuropeanEconomic Area (EEA) and in free trade relations, the twocore activities of EFTA.

The highlights of 2009 include securing the participationof the EEA EFTA States in the Galileo Programme, theinclusion of the Services Directive in the EEA Agreement,and the signing of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) withAlbania, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Serbia.

The EEA Agreement has now been in force for 15 years. It continues to be a solid framework for the participation ofIceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in the Internal Market ofthe European Union with a combined population of morethan 500 million people. The EEA constitutes the biggestcommon market in the world. The Agreement is based onthe objective of free movement of goods, persons, servicesand capital among its members, as well as close cooperationin other fields.

In 2009, 283 legal acts were incorporated into the EEAAgreement. Some of the most important additions includethe decisions on the Services Directive, customs securitymeasures, the Pharma Package, and the European Agencyfor Safety and Health at Work “Bilbao Agency”. TheEFTA States also cooperate closely with the EU in thearea of energy and climate change, especially on theemission trading scheme and in promoting energytechnology and energy efficiency.

Through the EEA Agreement, the EEA EFTA Statesparticipate in a number of Programmes and agencieswhich play an increasingly important role in the EU. Inthis respect I would like to underline the participation inthe Galileo Programme, which will consist of 30 satelliteswhen fully deployed by 2013. It will represent animportant milestone for the EEA and affect many areas ofour lives – from safe and efficient transport to crisis andemergency management, as well as applications in manycommercial sectors.

The EEA EFTA States also contribute to reducing socialand economic disparities within the EEA. Through theEEA Grants and the Norway Grants, €1.3 billion was

FOREWORD


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD 3

EFTA COUNCIL 5

EFTA Ministerial Meetings 5The EFTA Council atAmbassadorial Level 7The EFTA Convention 7

FREE TRADE RELATIONS 8

Main Developments 9Management of EFTA Free Trade Agreements 11Technical Assistance 11Relations with the WTO 11

THE EEA AGREEMENT 14

The EEA Council 14The EEA Joint Committee 14The Standing Committee of the EFTA States 15Legal and Institutional Matters 15The Lugano Convention 15Free Movement of Goods 15Free Movement of Services and Capital 24Free Movement of Persons 26Flanking and Horizontal Policies 27

Heads of EFTA National Statistical Institutes 31EFTA-EU Cooperation in the Field of Statistics 32Technical Cooperation in the Field of Statistics 32

THE EEA AND NORWAY GRANTS 34

Over 1200 Development Projects 34From Commitment to Implementation Phase 34Sector focus: 50% Energy Savings 34Sector focus: Cooperation Across Borders 35The EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 35

ADVISORY BODIES 36

The Parliamentary Committees 36The Consultative Committees 37

INFORMATION ACTIVITIES 38

ADMINISTRATION 40

APPENDICES 41


EFTA COUNCILEFTA Ministerial Meetings

The EFTA Council met twice at Ministerial level in2009: in Hamar, Norway, on 22 June and in Geneva on17 December. During the first half of 2009, theCouncil was chaired by Norway and Liechtensteinserved as chair during the second half.

At their summer meeting in June, the EFTA Ministersmet with Sheikh Ghazi Bin Said Al Bahar Al Rawas,on behalf of the Omani Presidency of the MinisterialCouncil of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)[1], andAbdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Secretary-General of the GCC, to sign the Free Trade Agreement(FTA) between EFTA and the GCC. Ministerscommended the FTA, covering trade in goods as wellas services and government procurement, as animportant step in strengthening bilateral trade andinvestment relations with the Middle East.

In their Communiqué, the EFTA Ministers expressedmoreover their satisfaction with the continuedexpansion of EFTA’s network of FTAs through theentry into force of the FTA with Canada on 1 July 2009and the signing of a Joint Declaration on Cooperation(JDC) with Mauritius on 9 June 2009. They furtherwelcomed the progress achieved in negotiations withPeru and India as well as the start of negotiations withUkraine, Serbia and Albania. They agreed to assess thefeasibility of launching a negotiating process withRussia. Ministers reaffirmed their willingness todeepen trade relations with Asia, notably throughopening negotiations with Hong Kong, through thepreparation of a JDC with Malaysia and by examiningthe feasibility of an FTA with Vietnam and Indonesia.They also stated their readiness to resume talks withThailand and took note of the situation in thenegotiations with Algeria.

Ministers welcomed the progress report by the AdHoc Working Group on Trade and Environment andthe interim report from the Ad Hoc Working Groupon Labour Standards in EFTA FTAs; they underlined

the importance of the two Working Groups in orderto contribute to international developments in thesefields.

At the Ministerial meeting held in Geneva on 17December 2009, the EFTA Ministers came togetherwith Sejdi Qerimaj, Ambassador and PermanentRepresentative of the Republic of Albania to theUnited Nations and other International Organisationsin Geneva, and Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economyand Regional Development of the Republic of Serbia,for the signing of the EFTA-Albania and the EFTA-Serbia Free Trade Agreements. Both FTAs focus on theliberalisation of trade in goods. Ministers welcomedthe continued strengthening of trade and economicrelations between the EFTA Member States and South-Eastern Europe.

The EFTA Ministers also expressed their satisfactionthat the remaining outstanding issues in thenegotiations with Peru had been settled and lookedforward to the signing of the Agreement in 2010.Similarly, they welcomed the good progress achievedin the negotiations with Ukraine and voiced their hopethat these could be concluded in the first half of 2010.

Ministers also highlighted the advances made in thetalks with India and stressed the fact that this processconstituted a priority in the expansion of the FTAnetwork. They further welcomed the launch ofnegotiations with Hong Kong in January 2010 andwith Indonesia in early 2010 as well as the goodprogress achieved in working towards a JDC withMalaysia. They expressed their wish to resumenegotiations with Algeria and Thailand. Moreover,they confirmed their readiness to start work on a jointfeasibility study with Vietnam.

Ministers also welcomed recent contacts with Russiaand Panama. They welcomed the significant furtherprogress reached in the Ad Hoc EFTA Working Groupon Trade and Environment and looked forward to thefinalisation of a report next year. They mandated theAd Hoc Working Group on Labour Standards in EFTAFTAs to pursue its efforts.

[1] GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.

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At their June meeting, the EEA EFTA Ministersreiterated the importance of the Climate and EnergyPackage agreed by the EU in December 2008 andwelcomed the continuous close cooperation with theEU in the area of energy and climate change, notablyon the emission trading scheme and in promotingenergy technology and energy efficiency.

Ministers also greeted the adoption of variousdecisions in the EEA Agreement which include theEuropean Institute of Innovation and Technology; theincorporation of a Regulation on access to gastransmission networks; the incorporation of aRegulation on a general block exemption for StateAid; the Consumer Credit Directive; theestablishment of a system for identification andregistration of bovine animals and labelling of beefand beef products; the European QualificationsFramework; the Services Directive; and thePharmaceutical Package.

Moreover, Ministers expressed their satisfaction overthe participation of the EEA EFTA States in EEArelevant EU Programmes. Given their strong focus oncreativity and innovation, Ministers voiced their hopethat these Programmes would play a substantial rolein Europe’s economic recovery. They highlighted inparticular the importance of the European Year ofCreativity and Innovation 2009.

Overall, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance ofcontinued EEA EFTA contributions to the decisionshaping process of EEA-relevant EU legislationthrough participation in appropriate Committees andWorking Groups, and by submission of EEA EFTAComments. In this context, Ministers pointed out that the participation mechanism might have to beadapted to the EU’s internal institutional developmentsin order to ensure continued appropriate access of theEEA EFTA States to relevant programmes andagencies.

The EFTA Ministers and the Secretary-General met at the summer Ministerial meeting in Hamar: Kåre Bryn (left), EFTA Secretary-General, Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister ofForeign Affairs and External Trade (Iceland), Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Cultural Affairs (Liechtenstein), Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Trade and Industry(Norway), and Doris Leuthard, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (Switzerland).


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Furthermore, Ministers welcomed the successfulround-up of commitments under the EEA andNorwegian Financial Mechanisms 2004-2009.Around 1100 projects, programmes and funds hadbeen approved by the 30 April 2009 deadline.

At their meeting in June, the four EFTA Ministersexpressed their concern over the global economic andfinancial crisis and over the consequent considerablefall in international trade and investment. They alsoregretted the emergence of trade-restrictive measureswhich have the potential to exacerbate the crisis. Theytherefore expressed their commitment to refrain fromraising new barriers to investment or to trade in goodsand services. In this context, they further recalled thecritical importance of concluding the Doha Round andof building upon the WTO acquis to stimulate globaleconomic recovery. Ministers also underlined the needfor coordinated and comprehensive action to restorethe global economy; they called in particular for astrengthening of the financial system with anappropriate degree of Regulation.

At their December meeting, the Ministers welcomedthe first signs of recovery in the global economy.Recalling the significant impact of the global financialcrisis on trade flows, they reiterated their commitmentto the WTO and underlined the importance of a robustmultilateral trading system as deterrence againstprotectionist pressures.

In Hamar, the Ministers confirmed the reappointmentof Kåre Bryn of Norway as Secretary-General, Bergdís Ellertsdóttir of Iceland and Didier Chamboveyof Switzerland as Deputy Secretaries-General, for aperiod of three years with effect from 1 September 2009.

The Ministers also met with the two EFTA advisorybodies, the Parliamentary Committee and theConsultative Committee, and discussed recentdevelopments in EFTA’s free trade relations, the EEA,and the relations between Switzerland and the EU.Another meeting with the Parliamentary Committeetook place in December.

Following the EEA Council in Brussels on 16November, the EEA EFTA Ministers met with the

Parliamentary and the Consultative Committees andbriefed them on the discussions in, and outcome of, theEEA Council. It was the first time that the Ministersand the Advisory Bodies convened in this format and itwas agreed to add this meeting to the regular scheduleof meetings in 2010. The Liechtenstein MinisterialChair of the EFTA Council also met with theConsultative Committee to discuss recentdevelopments in the area of third country relations.

The Communiqués from the Ministerial meetings canbe found in the Appendices to this report.

The EFTA Council atAmbassadorial Level

In the first half of 2009 Norway served as EFTACouncil Chair, and Liechtenstein chaired the Councilin the second half. The Council met ten times during2009 at the level of Heads of Permanent Delegations toEFTA in Geneva. The Council discussed EFTA’s freetrade negotiations and the management of existingagreements. The Council approved a number oftechnical cooperation projects and dealt withadministrative and budgetary matters.

The EFTA Convention

The EFTA Council is responsible for the VaduzConvention, which is regularly updated to reflectlegislative developments in the EEA Agreement andthe Swiss-EU agreements. In 2009, the Councilamended Article 53 and Annex I of the EFTAConvention concerning mutual recognition ofconformity assessment and it amended the Appendix toAnnex Q of the EFTA Convention on Air Transport.


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In 2009, EFTA further expanded and deepened itsworldwide preferential trade relations. By signingthree new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) withAlbania, the Cooperation Council of the Arab States ofthe Gulf (GCC), and Serbia, the number of EFTA’scurrent FTAs rose to 20, covering 29 countries. By theend of the year, EFTA’s formal engagement withpartners outside the European Union extended to 44countries at various levels of cooperation:

• Free Trade Agreements in force:EFTA had fully operational FTAs with 20 partnercountries (Canada, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, Israel,Jordan, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Macedonia,Mexico, Morocco, Palestinian Authority,Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, and the SouthernAfrican Customs Union, comprising Botswana,Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland).

FREE TRADE RELATIONS

Joint Declarations on Cooperation and Free Trade Agreementsbetween EFTA and Third Countries Fig. 1

Partner Joint Declaration Free Trade Agreement Signature Signature Entry into force

Albania 10 December 1992 17 December 2009Algeria 12 December 2002Canada 26 January 2008 1 July 2009Chile 26 June 2003 1 December 2004Colombia 17 May 2006 25 November 2008Croatia 19 June 2000 21 June 2001 1 April 2002Egypt 8 December 1995 27 January 2007 1 August 2007Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)[2] 23 May 2000 22 June 2009Israel 17 September 1992 1 January 1993Jordan 19 June 1997 21 June 2001 1 September 2002Korea, Republic of 15 December 2005 1 September 2006Lebanon 19 June 1997 24 June 2004 1 January 2007Macedonia 29 March 1996 19 June 2000 1 May 2002Mauritius 9 June 2009Mexico 27 November 2000 1 July 2001Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR)[3] 12 December 2000Mongolia 28 July 2007Montenegro 12 December 2000Morocco 8 December 1995 19 June 1997 1 December 1999Palestinian Authority 16 December 1996 30 November 1998 1 July 1999Peru 24 April 2006Southern African Customs Union (SACU)[4] 26 June 2006 1 May 2008Serbia 12 December 2000 17 December 2009Singapore 26 June 2002 1 January 2003Tunisia 8 December 1995 17 December 2004 1 June 2005Turkey 10 December 1991 1 April 1992Ukraine 19 June 2000

[2] Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[3] Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.[4] Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.


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• Signed Free Trade Agreements:An FTA with the six Member States of the GCC(Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates) was signed in June 2009,followed by Agreements with Albania and Serbia inDecember. Along with the FTA signed with Colombiain 2008, four Free Trade Agreements were thus in theprocess of being ratified by the Parties.

• Free Trade Negotiations:EFTA was engaged in free trade negotiations withfive partners (Algeria, Hong Kong China, India,Peru, and Ukraine). The negotiations with Thailandremained on hold.

• Joint Feasibility Studies:With two countries – Indonesia and the RussianFederation – Joint Feasibility Reports had beenfinalised, but negotiations not yet started.

• Joint Declarations:In June 2009, EFTA signed a Joint Declaration onCooperation with Mauritius. Joint Declarationsexisted with six further countries with which EFTAhad not yet entered into free trade negotiations(Mongolia, Montenegro, and the MERCOSURStates Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

Main Developments

Canada

The Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA Statesand Canada entered into force on 1 July 2009. It is thefirst FTA between European countries and Canada,providing for new transatlantic linkages for supply andvalue chains.

Two-way merchandise trade between the EFTA Statesand Canada amounted to 9.8 billion USD in 2008, withEFTA’s exports reaching 6.1 billion and imports 3.7billion. This made Canada EFTA’s fourth largesttrading partner outside the European Union, whileEFTA represented Canada’s eighth largest exportdestination. EFTA’s main exports to Canada weremineral fuels, pharmaceutical and chemical products,as well as machinery. Canada primarily exportednickel, aircrafts, pharmaceutical products, machineryand mechanical appliances to EFTA. The EFTA-Canada Agreement, which focuses on trade in goods,has the potential to yield significant benefits foreconomic operators in the five participating countries.

Most industrial goods, including fish and other marineproducts, have been benefitting from duty-free accessto the Parties’ markets since the entry into force of theAgreement. In addition, the FTA includes provisionson other trade barriers and trade-related disciplines.The areas of services, investment and governmentprocurement are the subject of reviews and possiblenew negotiations in the coming years. Basicagricultural products are covered by additionalagreements concluded between the individual EFTAStates and Canada, as part of the instrumentsestablishing the free trade area between the Parties.

GCC

The Free Trade Agreement with another verysignificant economic partner of EFTA – theCooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf(GCC; comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) – wassigned on 22 June 2009 in Hamar, Norway. Followingup on a Joint Declaration on Cooperation concluded in2000, the Parties had launched negotiations inFebruary 2006.

With EFTA merchandise exports to the GCC countriesat an equivalent level to those with Canada in 2008(6.1 billion USD), the GCC ranks among EFTA’s topexport destinations outside the European Union.Clocks and watches, precious stones, electricalmachinery and pharmaceuticals were the leadingcategories of EFTA exports to the GCC. EFTAmerchandise imports from the GCC were close to 1 billion USD in 2008. In addition to trade in goods, theAgreement notably covers services and governmentprocurement.

The Free Trade Agreement with the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of theGulf (GCC) was signed on 22 June 2009 in Hamar: Sylvia Brustad (left), Minister ofTrade and Industry (Norway), and Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC).


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Albania and Serbia

Launched in the spring of 2009, free tradenegotiations with Albania and Serbia advancedswiftly, and the respective Agreements could besigned in Geneva on 17 December. In line with otherEFTA Agreements concluded with partners in theBalkans and the Mediterranean region, the mainobjective of the FTAs with Albania and Serbia is theliberalisation of trade in goods, including theprotection of intellectual property rights.

Through the Agreements with the two partners, EFTAmoves further towards comprehensive free tradecoverage in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Totalmerchandise trade between EFTA and Serbiaamounted to 338 million USD in 2008, and to 42million with Albania.

Other Partners

Negotiations on a comprehensive Free TradeAgreement with India, commenced in October 2008,and advanced steadily in 2009. Two full rounds andadditional meetings of experts allowed for substantialprogress in all areas. The Parties remain committed tocontinuing, and if possible finalising, the negotiatingprocess in 2010.

In Southeast Asia, EFTA continued its dialogues oncloser economic relations with Indonesia and Malaysia

and increased contacts with Hong Kong and Vietnam.Acknowledging these developments, EFTA Ministersat their December 2009 meeting looked forward to thestart of negotiations with Hong Kong and Indonesia.Furthermore, they expressed their wish to sign a JointDeclaration on Cooperation with Malaysia and toconduct a Joint Feasibility Study with Vietnam in2010, and reiterated their readiness to resume thenegotiations with Thailand at the earliest opportunity.

In Europe, in addition to the completion of Free TradeAgreements with Albania and Serbia, EFTA launchednegotiations with Ukraine in April 2009. Two fullrounds were held during the second half of the year,leading to significant progress on a broad-based FreeTrade Agreement. A conclusion of the EFTA-Ukrainenegotiating process could be reached in the first half of2010. With Russia, preparatory work continued with aview to launching a negotiating process in 2010, basedon the findings submitted by the Joint EFTA-RussiaStudy Group at the end of 2008.

In the Mediterranean region, negotiations with Algeriastalled in 2009, following notable headway achievedduring the previous year. EFTA Ministers in Decemberconfirmed their wish to resume and to conclude thesenegotiations as soon as possible.

In Latin America, the last outstanding issues in the freetrade negotiations with Peru could be settled, and theAgreement is expected to be signed in the first half of

EFTA and Serbia signed a Free Trade Agreement on 17 December 2009 in Geneva: Kåre Bryn (left), EFTA Secretary-General, Gylfi Magnússon, Minister for Economic Affairs(Iceland), Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy and Regional Development (Republic of Serbia), Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs (Liechtenstein), Trond Giske, Ministerof Trade and Industry (Norway), and Doris Leuthard, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (Switzerland).


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2010. As to the FTA with Colombia, signed in late2008, ratification by the Parties moved forward. Theentry into force is foreseen in the course of 2010. Withrespect to Panama, EFTA Ministers in December 2009agreed to propose a Joint Declaration on Cooperationas a step towards closer trade relations.

A Joint Declaration on Cooperation between EFTA andMauritius was signed on 9 June.

Management of EFTA FreeTrade Agreements

In 2009, the EFTA States held Joint Committeemeetings with four free trade partners (Croatia,Lebanon, the Southern African Customs Union, andTurkey). On these occasions, EFTA and its partnercountries reviewed the functioning of the respectiveFTAs. They also assessed the need for adjustments andextensions of commitments in light of recentdevelopments. As a result, several decisions to updateexisting Agreements were taken, such as the addition

of a new Protocol on the mutual recognition ofconformity assessment of products in the FTA withTurkey (free trade partner since 1991). Furthermore,work on possible future amendments to existingAgreements was also pursued with other partners, suchas Mexico and Singapore.

Technical Assistance

In the framework of EFTA’s technical assistanceactivities, the main project undertaken in 2009 was atwo-week series of public seminars to promote exportsfrom the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) tothe EFTA markets, making use of the EFTA-SACUFree Trade Agreement (in force since May 2008). Fiveseminars were held in July in four different SACUMember States, covering both technical and practicalaspects of access to the EFTA markets.

Further technical assistance activities included:• a seminar in Lebanon on competition issues; • a seminar for Palestinian Authority representatives

on the WTO and WTO accession, and support forthe technical work necessary for obtainingobservership in the WTO;

• a study visit to Switzerland for Ukrainiangovernment procurement experts;

• a scholarship at the World Trade Institute in Bern,Switzerland for an official from Lesotho.

Relations with WTO

Under the WTO’s transparency mechanism forbilateral and regional trade agreements (see box),EFTA submitted notifications regarding the start ofnegotiations with Albania, Serbia and Ukraine, thesigning of the FTA with Colombia, and the entry intoforce of the Agreement with Canada. EFTA alsonotified several decisions taken by Joint Committeesunder existing FTAs. Furthermore, the EFTA-KoreaFree Trade Agreement was examined by the WTO’sCommittee on Regional Trade Agreements in April.

Joint Committee Meetings in 2009 Fig. 2

Free Trade Partner Venue and date of meetingJoint EFTA-SACU[5] Committee (1st) Pretoria, 4 February 2009

Joint EFTA-Croatia Committee (3rd) Zagreb, 4 June 2009

Joint EFTA-Lebanon Committee (1st) Beirut, 8 October 2009

Joint EFTA-Turkey Committee (9th) Geneva, 3 December 2009

[5] Southern African Customs Union, comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

The first joint EFTA-Lebanon Committee took place on 8 October 2009 in Beirut:Lama Oueijan (left), from the Lebanese Ministry of Trade, and Anniken Mordal,chief negotiator (Norway).


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WTO’s Monitoring of Free Trade AgreementsMost-Favoured-Nation (MFN) treatment is a key principle underlying the multilateral trading system. In practice,MFN treatment means that a lower customs duty offered by one Member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)to another country must be extended to all other Members of the WTO. However, a country may enter into a FreeTrade Agreement or customs union granting more favourable terms to the participating States than to the otherWTO Members if certain conditions stipulated in the relevant provisions of the WTO Agreements are observed,in order to ensure the complementarity of the FTA with the WTO system (notably Article XXIV of the GATT, fortrade in goods, and Article V of the GATS, for trade in services).

By the end of 2009, a total of 266 Free Trade Agreements (or “bilateral / regional trade agreements”) had beennotified to the WTO and were in force. A revised transparency mechanism for such Agreements was establishedby the WTO General Council in 2006. This mechanism provides for the early announcement and notification tothe WTO of any agreement, as well as for consideration by the WTO membership of such agreements on the basisof a “Factual Presentation” prepared by the WTO Secretariat. The factual presentations provide an overview ofthe main provisions of the FTA as well as information on the overall liberalisation undertaken by the Parties withinthe Agreement. In addition, the WTO is to receive notification with regard to any changes affecting theimplementation or the operation of an FTA.

The current transparency mechanism is being implemented on a provisional basis – a permanent one is to beadopted as part of the overall results of the ongoing Doha Round of negotiations. The EFTA Member States arecommitted to the rules and the implementation of this mechanism, in line with their overall priority given to themultilateral trading system. Since the introduction of the 2006 mechanism, and alongside numerous notifications,four EFTA FTAs have been considered by the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA), namelyEFTA-Chile, EFTA-Egypt, EFTA-Korea and EFTA-Tunisia.

EFTA’s Technical AssistanceEFTA’s technical assistance activities cover a range ofprojects and programmes funded through theAssociation’s budget (640,000 Swiss francs in 2009). Themain objective is to support prospective partners inpreparing for free trade relations with EFTA and to assistexisting FTA partners in the implementation andpromotion of the Agreements. These programmes andprojects are primarily directed at developing countriesand economies in transition.

EFTA arranges training, seminars, workshops and studyvisits adapted to the particular needs of the partnercountries. Areas where EFTA provides assistance includetrade facilitation and trade promotion, customs and originmatters, technical barriers to trade, sanitary andphytosanitary measures, intellectual property rights,government procurement, competition, services, andstatistics. Moreover, EFTA participates in EU technical

assistance programmes and in projects aimed at third countries, especially with regard to customs matters,standardisation and statistics.

EFTA technical assistance activities are organised by the EFTA Secretariat. Experts from EFTA Member Statesand partner countries participate in the projects. In addition, individual EFTA Member States have technicalassistance programmes and initiatives of their own.

In July 2009, EFTA and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) promotedexports under the Free Trade Agreement in Gaborone (Botswana): M.J. Masisi(left), Botswana’s chief trade negotiator, Alice Mokalake, Department ofInternational Trade, Reginald Selelo, SACU Secretariat, and Geir Ulle, EFTASecretariat.


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THE EEA AGREEMENT

The EEA Council

The EEA Council was chaired by the EU side duringthe first half of the year, and by EFTA in the latterhalf. In 2009 the EEA Council met on 19 May and 16November where the ongoing work in EEAcooperation was reviewed and the progress reportsfrom the EEA Joint Committee were noted. TheMinisters confirmed the positive overall functioningand development of the EEA Agreement andappreciated the fact that new acts were being quicklyincorporated into the Agreement. They also discussedthe current financial crisis and the EEA Financial

Mechanisms, including orientation debates whichtook place on the Financial Crisis: Towards a NewRegulatory Regime and on climate change. Theconclusions from these meetings are found in theappendices to this Report.

The EEA Joint Committee

The Joint Committee met eight times in 2009, andadopted 159 decisions incorporating 283 legal acts.

During the year, the Joint Committee discussed interalia the appropriate level of participation for the EEAEFTA States in the European Institute of GenderEquality, access for EEA EFTA citizens to work in theEuropean Commission Executive Agencies, proposalson European Financial Supervision and a request fromthe EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee on nationalEFTA Parliaments receiving legislative proposals fromthe Commission.

Among the more significant decisions adopted by theJoint Committee were the Services Directive, inconnection with which Norway and Iceland madeunilateral declarations; the Pharmaceutical Package;the Customs Security Measures; the participation of theEFTA EEA States in Galileo; inclusion of monitoringand reporting guidelines for CO2 emissions; nationalEmission Ceilings; and the participation of the EEAEFTA States in the European Agency for Safety andHealth at Work, the so-called Bilbao Agency.

Meeting of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States on 23 April 2009. Bergdís Ellertsdóttir (left), Deputy Secretary-General of EFTA, Kåre Bryn, Secretary-General of EFTA,Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson, Ambassador of Iceland to the EU, and Ragnheidur Elfa Þorsteinsdóttir, Deputy Head of the Mission of Iceland to the EU.

The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) brings together the 27 EUMembers and three of the EFTA countries - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway -in a single internal market.


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The Standing Committee ofthe EFTA States

In the first half of the year, Iceland chaired the StandingCommittee and Norway served as chair in the secondhalf. The agendas and conclusions of the StandingCommittee meetings are available on the EFTAwebsite. On 16 November, the EFTA StandingCommittee held a joint meeting at Ministerial level inBrussels with the Committee of Members ofParliaments of the EFTA States and the ConsultativeCommittee to discuss developments in the EEA.

Legal and InstitutionalMatters

Subcommittee V met six times in 2009. TheSubcommittee devoted considerable efforts to analysingthe Single Market Review and its impact on the EuropeanEconomic Area. The conclusions of the Subcommitteewere then shared with the Consultative Committee.

Subcommittee V also addressed numerous other issues in2009, including the latest developments in the EU withregard to criminal law sanctions in internal marketlegislation and in particular in relation to the incorporationinto the EEA Agreement of Regulation 216/2008 (EC)concerning common rules in the field of civil aviation andthe establishment of a European Aviation Safety Agency.

Moreover, the Subcommittee produced notes onproduct authorisation procedures and on access forEEA EFTA citizens to posts in EU agencies.

Finally, an Ad Hoc Working Group on public access toEFTA documents was set up under Subcommittee V.

The Lugano Convention

The EFTA Secretariat is an observer institution inthe sessions of the Standing Committee of theLugano Convention and continued to monitor thework in this area.

Free Movement of Goods

A substantial part of EU legislation concerns the freemovement of goods, a principle which is appliedthroughout the Single Market. This does not imply thatall products can circulate freely. They must conform torequirements set for the protection of legitimateinterests, such as health, safety and the environment.Additionally, in order to ensure a fair and efficientmarket, a wide range of legislative measures have beenestablished in the fields of competition, State Aid andpublic procurement.

Subcommittee I prepares for the integration oflegislation that relates to all aspects of the freemovement of goods, competition, State Aid, publicprocurement, intellectual property rights and energymatters into the EEA Agreement. The work ofSubcommittee I is assisted by 14 Working Groups and28 Expert Groups.

Under the EFTA Council, two Committees work onissues related to goods, the Committee on TechnicalBarriers to Trade and the Committee of Origin andCustoms Experts. They met several times in 2009 and

Meeting of Subcommittee I on the Free Movement of Goods, 31 March 2009, at the EFTA Secretariat in Brussels. Lars Varden (left) and Gunnar Selvik, the EFTA Secretariat,and Knut Hermansen (Chair) and Kyrre Holm, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


Number of meetings Number of acts

in 2009 incorporated in 2009

The Joint Committee 8 283

The Standing Committee 8 283

SUBCOMMITTEE I 8 147

Working Groups

Competition Policy 1 3

Customs Matters 5 -

Efficient Trade Procedures 3 -

Energy Matters 6 2

Feedingstuffs 1 38

Fisheries - -

Intellectual Property Rights 4 1

Plant Health - 5

Processed Agricultural Products 1 -

Product Liability - -

Public Procurement 1 -

State Aid - -

Veterinary Matters - 32

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) 4 66

Expert Groups under TBT

Motor Vehicles - 3

Agricultural and Forestry Tractors - -

Machinery - -

Appliances Burning Liquid or Gaseous Fuels - -

Construction - -

Pressure Equipment - -

Measuring Instruments - -

Electrical Equipment - -

Foodstuffs - 21

Organic Production - 2

MRLs - 2

Medicinal Products 1 13

Chemicals - 13

Plant Protection Products - -

Fertilisers - -

Good Laboratory Practice - -

Cosmetics - 6

Telecommunications Equipment - -

Medical Devices - 2

Personal Protective Equipment - -

Consumer Product Safety and Toys 1 2

Wine and Spirit Drinks - -

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Number of meetings Number of acts

in 2009 incorporated in 2009

Explosives - -

Recreational Crafts - -

Marine Equipment - 1

ATEX (equipment for use in explosive atmospheres) - -

Precious Metals - -

Cableway Installations - -

Other - 1

SUBCOMMITTEE II 8 71

Working Groups

Ad Hoc Working Group on Services 1 1

Financial Services 3 2

Economic Committee ECFIN (with SG's Office) 3 -

Company Law - 19

Information and Telecommunication Services 6 9

- Audiovisual Services Subgroup 1 -

- Data Protection Expert Group 1 1

Postal services - -

Transport 5 39

SUBCOMMITTEE III 8 5

Working Groups

Free Movement of Persons, Employment

and Social Policy 1 1

Social Security 6 3

Recognition of Professional Qualifications 2 1

SUBCOMMITTEE IV 8 60

Working Groups

Research and Development 2 -

Environment 4 14

Education, Training and Youth 2 2

Gender Equality, Anti-Discrimination and Family Policy 2 1

Health and Safety at Work and Labour Law 2 6

Consumer Affairs 2 2

EFTA Consumers' Consultative Committee 1 -

Enterprise Policy 2 -

Civil Protection 2 -

Cultural Affairs 3 -

Public Health 3 -

Budgetary Matters 3 -

Heads of National Statistical Institutes 1 31

Subcommittee II and IV 4*

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*Acts concerning GNSS/Galileo.


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were involved, among other things, in revising partsof the EFTA Convention, standardisation, accreditationand conformity assessment issues, requests forfunding of joint EU-EFTA quality infrastructureprojects geared towards third countries and innegotiations related to the modernising of the PanEuro Med preferential rules of origin concept.

Veterinary, Food and AgriculturalIssuesThe veterinary and food legislation in the EEAAgreement applies only to Iceland and Norway. Since2007, Liechtenstein has been subject to the Swiss-EUAgricultural Agreement pertaining to legislation inthese areas.

Veterinary issues

The Food Law Package, including key legislation ongeneral food law, hygiene and control matters andanimal by-products, was incorporated into the EEAAgreement in 2007.

An extension of certain veterinary legislation to Icelandwas also part of the Package. Parliamentary proceduresregarding the Package were ongoing in Icelandthroughout 2009. On 18 December 2009 the IcelandicParliament adopted an act transposing the Package intonational law. As a consequence, the Food Law Packagewill enter into force in the EEA on 1 May 2010.

The EEA Joint Committee incorporated 32 acts in theveterinary area into the EEA Agreement in 2009. Thisis a considerably lower number than previous years,but the delay in the entry into force of the Food LawPackage has created a standstill for the incorporationof most of the acts in the veterinary area. It is expectedthat a large number of acts in this area will beincorporated into the Agreement in 2010.

Among the acts incorporated in 2009 were theRegulation on labelling of bovine animals and beeffrom 2000 and other related acts. The Regulationensures identification and labelling of bovine animals,as well as labelling of beef meat with the country inwhich an animal has been born, raised and slaughtered.The legislation will enter into force when the FoodLaw Package is in place. During 2009, 31 veterinaryacts under simplified procedures were identified.

Animal feed

The Regulation on implementing rules for feedadditives was among the acts which were incorporatedinto the EEA Agreement in 2009. In addition, morethan 30 other acts regarding authorisations of feedadditives were incorporated.

The Working Group on Feedingstuffs met once in 2009.They discussed legislation concerning sampling andanalysis, medicated feed and microbiological criteria forfeed. The Working Group also started work towardsincorporating the new Regulation on the placing on themarket and the use of feed which was adopted by the EUin 2009. This Regulation is expected to become part ofthe EEA Agreement in 2010.

Food

Among the food legislation incorporated into the EEAAgreement in 2009 were acts related to residues ofpesticides and contaminants in food, as well as foodcontact materials.

The Novel Foods Regulation and the Regulations ongenetically modified food and feed and the traceabilityand labelling of genetically modified organisms(GMOs) are still under discussion by the EEA EFTAMember States.

The EEA EFTA Member States worked activelythroughout 2009 to promote the EEA EFTA Commentsto the legislative proposal for a Regulation on foodinformation to the consumers. In March 2009, Norwaywas invited to the Council to present the EEA EFTAposition to the EU Member States.

The Expert Group on Organic Production discussedadaptation texts to the new legal frameworkconcerning organic production, which remains to beincorporated into the EEA Agreement.

Trade in agricultural products

Throughout 2009, Norway met several times with theEuropean Commission to discuss extendedconcessions on trade in agricultural products, based onArticle 19 of the EEA Agreement. Negotiations willcontinue in 2010. The Icelandic negotiations with theCommission with regard to processed agricultural


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products were nearly finalised and the outcome wasforeseen to be implemented in Protocol 3 of the EEAAgreement as a bilateral regime. These negotiationshave, however, been put on hold in conjunction withthe Icelandic application for membership to the EU.

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

EFTA deals with the removal of technical barriers totrade in two fora: the EFTA Committee on TechnicalBarriers to Trade (TBT), which reports to the EFTACouncil (i.e. including Switzerland) and the WorkingGroup on Technical Barriers to Trade, whichcoordinates the assessment of EEA relevance andacceptability of new EU legislation to the three EEAEFTA Member States. Switzerland is an observerwithin this Working Group. The TBT Committee andthe Working Group each met four times in 2009.

The main political issues in 2009 were EFTAcooperation with the European cooperation onAccreditation (EA) and enhancing market surveillance

in Europe, both as a result of the new legal frameworkfor the marketing of products (NLF) adopted in 2008.Also, in April 2009 EFTA signed the new Guidelinesfor cooperation between the European Commission,EFTA and the EA. In the field of standardisation,important agreements were signed in 2009 with CEN,CENELEC and ETSI. Furthermore, EFTA has decidedto contribute to future financing of the new on-lineEurope-China information platform (see insertionbelow for more information).

The Committee concluded negotiations in May 2009on the total revision of Annex I of the EFTA VaduzConvention on Mutual Recognition in relation toConformity Assessment and finalised a new Protocolof the EFTA-Turkey Free Trade Agreement on MutualRecognition of Conformity Assessment of Products inDecember 2009. Both Agreements are scheduled toenter into force in 2010.

The Committee remained active in the field of technicalcooperation. A new EU technical infrastructure,

Europe-China on-line Standards Information PlatformThe new Europe-China on-line Standards InformationPlatform was launched during the European visibilityevent organised in the EFTA building in Brussels on 16October 2009. The platform is designed to become animportant tool to assist companies from China andEurope in obtaining information on how to successfullyenter their respective export markets, as well as toencourage engagement and dialogue on thedevelopment of standards.

The platform presently includes information on how to access markets in the fields of environmental protection,medical devices, electrical equipment, and machinery. It includes information on Chinese national and industrystandards, as well as on European standards. Furthermore, it contains information on ongoing standardisationactivities, the regulatory environment and related conformity assessment requirements, and it includes manualson access to the market in the different sectors. All information is provided in English and Chinese.

The Europe-China Standards Information Platform was developed by SDA, a British company based in China.The establishment was financed by the European Commission and the Standards Administration of China (SAC),and actively supported by the European Standardisation Organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI (the ESOs).The EFTA Secretariat participates in the Steering Committee for the project.

As to the future of the platform, in which new sectors will gradually be included, CEN (www.cen.eu) will be theproject manager on the European side, supported financially by the European Commission (EC) and EFTA. AMoU on the platform will be signed by SAC, the EC, EFTA and ESOs early 2010.

The link to the platform: http://eu-china-standards.eu


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co-financed by the EFTA countries, started in January2009. This €2 million regional project includes Turkey inaddition to the Western Balkans. The first phase of theproject, consisting of assessing the state of the existingquality infrastructures of the beneficiary countries, cameto a successful close in autumn 2009. The project, closelymonitored by the Committee, will continue untilFebruary 2011.

Finally, EFTA cooperates with the Nordic InnovationCentre (NICe) in setting certification of services on thepolitical agenda in Europe.[6]

Motor vehicles

Three technical acts on motor vehicles wereincorporated into the EEA Agreement in 2009. Theseacts concern external projections, emissions from lightpassenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6)as well as the installation of lighting and light-signalling devices on motor vehicles and their trailers.In addition, the Commission has followed up Directive2007/46/EC (Framework Directive) with severalamendments. However, the Framework Directive isstill being discussed and considered by the EFTAMember States; consequently, the Directive, includingthe aforementioned amendments, has yet to beincorporated into the EEA Agreement.

Medicinal products

The long-pending 2004 Pharmaceutical Package wasfinally incorporated into the EEA Agreement in May2009. The Package, which entered into force on 23December 2009, consists of a set of EU legal acts,essentially updating rules on the authorisation andsupervision of medicinal products. The Secretariatfurther monitored developments with regard to the new2008 Pharmaceutical Package. Together with aCommunication on the future of the pharmaceuticalsector, the Commission adopted three proposals thatfocus on reliable access to information on medicinalproducts by EU citizens, on the need to better protectpatients by strengthening the EU system for the safetymonitoring of medicines (pharmacovigilance) and onthe obligation to ensure better protection of EUcitizens from the serious threats posed by fakemedicines. These proposals are currently heavilydebated in the EU Council and Parliament.

Chemicals

Following the introduction of the REACH Regulationin 2008, several Directives within the field of chemicalswere repealed and replaced in 2009. The EFTASecretariat has, in close cooperation with the EFTAMember States and the Commission, appliedpragmatic solutions to ensure that the obligationsfollowing the EEA Agreement are fulfilled in thisprocess. In total 13 acts concerning chemicals wereincorporated into the agreement in 2009.

Mutual Recognition Agreements

Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) areinstruments that facilitate market access to thirdcountries by reducing the costs and time associatedwith obtaining product certifications. Protocol 12 ofthe EEA Agreement ensures the smooth functioningand the homogeneity of the EEA market with regard toMRAs. In that respect, a possible revision of theexisting MRA on Marine Equipment concluded by theEEA EFTA States with the United States was discussedin February 2009.

Market surveillance and consumer product safety

The EFTA States are fully committed to the enhancedapplication of market surveillance under the terms ofthe New Legislative Framework for the marketing ofproducts. This year EFTA reactivated the Expert Groupon Consumer Product Safety and Toys and twomeetings were held in 2009. The Expert Group is alsocoordinating its activities with the EFTA Committeeon Origin and Customs Experts to ensure a coordinatedapproach by the EFTA States in this increasinglyimportant area.

In response to the European Commission’s increasedactivity in this field, the EFTA States have participatedin meetings conducted by the Senior Officials Groupfor Standardisation and Conformity Assessment policy(SOGS) and the SOGS Market Surveillance Group.

The EFTA countries participate actively in the work ofPROSAFE, the product safety enforcement forum ofEurope, which consists of an informal network ofmarket surveillance enforcement authorities. TheSecretariat for Prosafe is located in the EFTASecretariat building in Brussels.

[6] A NICe study published in January 2009 may be downloaded at the following address: http://www.nordicinnovation.net/prosjekt.cfm?Id=1-4415-298.


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European Standardisation

The EFTA countries and the European Commission givefinancial support to the work carried out by the EuropeanStandardisation Organisations (ESOs) – CEN (EuropeanCommittee for Standardisation), CENELEC (EuropeanCommittee for Electrotechnical Standardisation) andETSI (European Telecommunications StandardisationInstitute). Like the Commission, EFTA has the formalstatus of Counsellor to CEN and ETSI, and is entitled toparticipate in the Administrative Boards of theseorganisations, as well as the General Assemblies of thethree ESOs.

In 2009, the Working Group on TBT continued to beinvolved in the preparation of mandates for the ESOsfor new standardisation activities to facilitate thefunctioning of the Single Market. A total of 21mandates were submitted to the TBT Committee in2009 covering a wide range of sectors includingconsumer product safety, telecommunications andpersonal music players.

In 2009, EFTA concluded three Framework PartnershipAgreements with the three ESOs, paving the way for theconclusion of operating grants and action grants. TheFPAs will run for a maximum period of five years andreplace the previous FPAs signed in 2004. Three AnnualOperating Grants were signed with the three ESOs tocontribute to the operational costs of the CentralSecretariats of the organisations. The EFTA Councilapproved 48 action grants in 2009 which represents asignificant increase over the 23 agreements signed in2008. EFTA's 5% financial commitment tostandardisation activities amounted to €816 072.45 in2009. EFTA continued its financial support to ANEC, theEuropean Association for the Coordination of ConsumerRepresentation in Standardisation, and ECOS, theEuropean Environmental Citizens Organisation forStandardisation, which represents consumers andenvironmental interests in standardisation. It alsocontinued to provide financial support to EOTA, theEuropean Organisation for Technical Approvals (relatingto the construction sector). The EEA EFTA Statesprovide financial support to NORMAPME via theirparticipation in the EU’s Competiveness and InnovationProgramme (CIP). NORMAPME promotes the interestsof SMEs in standardisation.

Energy

The EEA EFTA Member States paid close attention tothe final work being carried out by the EU institutions

on the Third Legislative Package for the InternalEnergy Market (3rd Package) and the Climate andEnergy Package. During the final stages of the co-decision process, the Commission met with theWorking Group on Energy Matters on severaloccasions to inform them of the latest developments.The Packages were adopted in April and July 2009respectively, and the EEA EFTA Member States arecurrently in the process of assessing the possibleincorporation of the relevant acquis into the EEAAgreement.

One topic of particular interest in the 3rd Package wasthe establishment of the EU’s new Agency for theCooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). Theagency’s competence, location and the possibility forEEA EFTA participation were among the main issuesdiscussed with the Commission in the Working Groupmeetings of 2009.

Two acts in the field of energy were incorporated into theEEA Agreement: Commission Decision 2008/591/EC onthe Ecodesign Consultation Forum and CommissionDecision 2007/74/EC on harmonised efficiencyreference values for separate production of electricityand heat. One additional act, Directive 2005/32/EC onEcodesign requirements for energy-using products. ThisDirective was incorporated into the EEA Agreement in2007 and entered into force in July 2009.

The EEA EFTA Member States followed up ondevelopments for the Ecodesign Directive byparticipating in the Ecodesign Consultation Forum andthe Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Committee(EELEP). The Working Group worked towardsincorporating the Energy Star Regulation into the EEAAgreement and also made efforts to enter into anexchange of letters with the US EnvironmentalProtection Agency (US EPA) on this matter. TheRegulation and the agreement with the US EPAconcern a voluntary labelling system that aims atidentifying certain standards regarding energyefficiency in office equipment.

Competition Policy

The Working Group on Competition Policy finalisedthe draft Agreement amending Protocol 4 to theSurveillance and Court Agreement on the functionsand powers of the EFTA Surveillance Authority in thefield of competition. The Agreement was signed inNovember 2009 and will enter into force when allinstruments of acceptance have been submitted to


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Norway, as the Depositary of the Agreement. Themerger implementation Regulation and a Regulationon settlement procedures in cartel cases wereincorporated into the EEA Agreement during the year.A Directive concerning competition in the market oftelecommunications terminal equipment and aRegulation on applying rules of competition totransport by rail, road and inland waterway were beingprepared for incorporation into the Agreement. ARegulation on agreements between liner shippingcompanies was being assessed by the experts forpossible incorporation into the Agreement. TheWorking Group remained in contact with theCommission regarding the White Paper on damagesactions for breach of the EC antitrust rules, but theCommission has yet to issue a formal proposal. TheWorking Group also closely followed the reviews ofthe merger Regulation, the modernisation Regulationand the block exemptions. Finally, the Working Grouphas agreed to review the acts related to the formerEuropean Community on Coal and Steel which havebeen incorporated into the Agreement.

State Aid

The EEA EFTA Member States participated inmultilateral State Aid meetings in 2009 concerning thefollowing topics: the Draft Communication from theCommission on the application of State Aid rules topublic service broadcasting, the compatibility of StateAid under Article 87.3 of the EC Treaty (e.g. State Aidfor training and for disabled or disadvantaged workers)and the draft Community Guidelines for the applicationof State Aid rules in relation to rapid deployment ofbroadband networks.

Public Procurement

The Working Group on Public Procurement monitoredprogress on the Commission's proposal for a Directiveon defence and sensitive security procurement (whichwas adopted and published in the summer of 2009).Moreover, the EEA EFTA Member States discussedthe incorporation into the EEA Agreement of theRemedies Directive (2007/66/EC). This Directiveimproves the national review procedures thatbusinesses can use when they consider that a publicauthority has unfairly awarded a contract.

Intellectual Property

The Working Group has closely monitored initiativesfrom the Commission following the adoption of the

Industrial Property Strategy for Europe launched in June2008. In particular, the Commission’s initiative to reformthe European Patent System by creating a EU Patent hasbeen of interest. In December 2009 the Councilunanimously adopted conclusions on the main featuresof an enhanced patent system in Europe. The proposedRegulation has two key aims: to bring about a singleEU patent and establish a “European and EU PatentsCourt” (EEUPC).

The Council’s conclusions foresee enhancedcooperation with the European Patent Office (EPO)and amendments to the European Patent Convention(EPC). The EPO is not a body of the European Unionand membership of the EPC is considerably broaderthan that of the EU. Signatories of the Conventioninclude all of the EFTA States, as well as other non-EUstates such as Croatia and Turkey.

The Working Group on Intellectual Property has alsoclosely followed the review of the EC legal copyrightacquis. In particular the proposal to prolong the term ofprotection of performing artists has been followed andbeen given particular attention.

The Working Group has monitored the progress ofvarious EU initiatives against counterfeiting,particularly the EU’s Action Plan againstCounterfeiting and the Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement(ACTA). A major initiative within this field waslaunched in April 2009 namely the set up of aEuropean Observatory for monitoring counterfeitingand piracy. It will provide a platform for collaborationamong stakeholders in the area.

The EFTA Secretariat and experts from the EFTAMember States participated in the European Patentforum as well as an international conference inStockholm with a special focus on Trademarks andPatents, organised by the EU Presidency, in 2009.

In December 2009 a Directive on Trade Marks wasincorporated into the EEA Agreement.

Customs Matters and TradeFacilitationA long-standing development in the customs field, notonly within the EFTA administrations but globally, is aclear shift of focus from the collection of VAT andcustoms duties towards the application of non-tariffmeasures, such as those related to security and safety


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in the international supply chain, globally networkedcustoms and coordinated border management.

In 2009 the Committee of Origin and Customs expertsaddressed customs matters related to Free TradeAgreements with third country partners and opentechnical customs issues among EFTA countries.

Safety and security matters

In 2009, Norway and Switzerland concluded bilateralagreements with the European Commission onintegrating the two EFTA countries into the EUsecurity standards. For the EFTA countries, the mostimportant element of these standards was therequirement of security data (pre-arrival/pre-departure

declarations) to be submitted to the EU customsauthorities before goods physically arrive in/or leavethe customs territory of the Union.

Conventions on common transit and thesimplification of formalities in trade in goods

The purpose of these conventions, to which the EFTAcountries and the EU Member States are the contractingparties, is to simplify the customs clearance formalitiesupon border-crossing. The convention regulatingcustoms transit has been adapted in order to reflect theComputerised Transit System (NCTS) as the standardprocedure. Eastern European countries have recentlyshown interest in becoming members to the transitconvention.

European Mediterranean Free Trade Area

The Ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership decided in 2007 to extend the Pan-Euro-Mediterraneancumulation system, which at the time included the EU Member States, the EFTA States, Turkey, the Faroe Islandsand ten Mediterranean countries, to the Western Balkans. The Commission hesitated to integrate the WesternBalkan countries using an intermediate solution. Instead they preferred to wait for the formulation andimplementation of a regional origin convention, in which the Western Balkan countries would also be members.

The development of the regional origin convention advanced quite well in 2009. The draft convention text wasapproved by the Pan-Euro-Med Working Group in the autumn of 2009 and it was endorsed in the EuropeanMediterranean Ministerial meeting, which took place on 9 December 2009. However, it is foreseen that theaccession procedures may take some time at national level before the convention can come into force.

For the EFTA countries it was important to succeed in putting the extension to the Western Balkans in place. Thiswill allow the producers and traders in EFTA to provide their raw materials from the EU 27 without this havinga negative impact on customs duties when selling goods to the Western Balkans.

In October 2009 the EFTA States and the Secretariat participated in a meeting in Montenegro concerning the extension of the Pan Euro Med cumulation system to theWestern Balkans.


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Trade facilitation

Globalisation and modern information technologieshave had a major impact on trade patterns in recentyears. Reducing and eliminating unnecessary costs dueto inefficient border procedures have therefore becomea priority for all trading nations. Recent developments,such as the challenge of bringing trade facilitation inline with growing safety and security concerns, as wellas rising concerns about the use/misuse of tradeprocedures as tools of trade policy, have heightened thepolitical profile of trade facilitation policy. This shift offocus was taken into account by the EFTA Councilwhen in June 2009 it mandated a new trade facilitationbody – Group of Experts on Trade Facilitation (GETF).

Free Movement of Servicesand Capital

Subcommittee II on the Free Movement of Capital andServices under the EFTA Standing Committeecoordinates matters of financial services, transport,information and telecommunications services,audiovisual services, postal services, company law, aswell as data protection.

Five Working Groups report to Subcommittee II. Inaddition, an Ad Hoc Working Group on Services in theInternal Market reports to Subcommittees II, III and IV.

ServicesThe Ad Hoc Working Group on Services wasestablished in March 2004 to follow and assess theDirective on Services in the Internal Market in thecontext of the EEA Agreement. The Directive aims tocreate a real internal market in services by removingadministrative and legal barriers to the cross-borderprovision of services between Member States. Afteractively following the political developments in 2006,the Working Group prepared the work necessary forthe incorporation of the Directive into the EEAAgreement. The Joint Committee Decision wasadopted in June 2009. The Group's mandate wasprolonged to May 2010.

Financial Services

In 2009 the Working Group on Financial Services hasmonitored closely the Commission legislativeinitiatives launched in response to the financial crisis.In particular, the proposals for a New European

Architecture of Financial Supervision which includesthe three new surveillance authorities for the financialmarkets (banks, insurance and securities) and theEuropean Systemic Risk Board have been followedwith great interest by the EEA EFTA States. In thiscontext, two EEA EFTA Comments were submitted tothe EU. The aim is to ensure adequate EEA EFTAparticipation in these bodies.

The review of the Framework Directives within thebanking sector, the so-called Capital RequirementDirectives (CRD), have also been closely monitoredby the Working Group. A seminar on this topic wasorganised in Vaduz on 29 May 2009 with stakeholdersfrom the EEA EFTA States and the Commission. TheWorking Group has also closely followed the review ofthe EU Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) whichshould be concluded by the EU early 2010.

Company LawIn 2009 the Working Group on Company Lawconsidered numerous acts related to accounting thatwere adopted on the EU side following the financialand economic crisis. It also monitored, in particular, the developments concerning the regime for theremuneration of directors of listed companies. TheWorking Group followed the Commission’s proposalwhich would enable a Member State to alleviate theregulatory burden on micro entities, especially as faras financial reporting is concerned. The WorkingGroup continued to follow various Commissionproposals including the proposal amending the 1stand 11th Company Law Directives as regardspublication and translation obligations of certaintypes of companies and the proposal for a EuropeanPrivate Company (SPE).

The EEA EFTA experts continued to activelyparticipate in the Commission’s Company Law ExpertGroup.

Information andTelecommunications Services

At the core of the Working Group’s activities in 2009were the discussions on two Commission proposals toamend the existing regulatory framework for electroniccommunications networks and services, and a proposalestablishing the European Electronic CommunicationsAuthority. The focus was on the role of the EEA EFTAStates in the new European Electronic CommunicationMarket Authority (BEREC).


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An Ad Hoc group, with a limited mandate for theimplementation of the Telecom Package, was set up inJune 2009. In 2010, discussions on the implementationof the Telecom Package, which will enter into force inJanuary 2010, will continue.

The EEA EFTA experts continued their activeparticipation in the discussions on the furtherharmonisation of spectrum at European level, which isneeded to boost the markets for electroniccommunications services in the EU. Reassigning andharmonising spectrum in the EU is core to the EU’snew Information and Communication TechnologiesAgenda under the umbrella of the Digital Agenda to belaunched by the Commission in 2010.

In 2009, the sub-group on the Interchange of Databetween Public Administrations continued their mandate,in particular with a view to preparing the EEA EFTAStates’ participation in the Interoperability Solutions forEuropean Public Administrations (ISA) Programme.

Audio-visual ServicesIn 2009, discussions on the incorporation of theAudiovisual Media Services Directive into the EEAAgreement continued and a meeting was held betweenEEA EFTA experts and the Commission concerning anadaptation text on a possible continuation of the exceptiongranted under the Television without Frontiers Directiveconcerning the advertisement of alcoholic beverages.

During the year, steps were taken on the EEA EFTA sideto incorporate the Media Mundus Programme into theEEA Agreement following the adoption of theProgramme on the EU side in the autumn of 2009. TheMedia Mundus Programme will enter into force on 1 January 2011. The EEA EFTA States also secured theircontinued participation in the Safer Internet Programme.

Postal ServicesIn 2009, the EEA EFTA States carried forward theirparticipation as observers in the EU Working Group

The EU Galileo Programme, which is the first satellite positioning and navigation system specifically for civil purposes, was incorporated into the EEA Agreement on 9 July 2009.


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on Postal Services. Discussions continued on theincorporation into the EEA Agreement of the ThirdPostal Directive.

TransportA significant number of proposals for new EU acts wereconsidered and discussed in depth with the Commissionduring 2009. The Working Group also met with the EUPresidencies and actively participated in the various EU Working Groups in the transport field.

A major development was the inclusion of the GalileoProgramme into the EEA Agreement. The Programmeis the first satellite positioning and navigation systemspecifically for civil purposes. By 2013 the fullydeployed Galileo system will consist of 30 satellitesand will offer services with outstanding performance.

The Working Group closely monitored theCommunication on the future of transport, whichidentifies the main trends and challenges that willshape the future of transport policy over the comingdecades and the two proposals regarding passengerrights in the bus, coach and maritime sector.

Another important issue on the transport agenda wasthe proposed Directive and the Action Plan onIntelligent Transport systems in Europe.

In the rail sector, the incorporation of the Third RailwayPackage was a priority as well as the proposal concerninga European rail network for competitive freight.

The Working Group actively monitored and followedthe developments regarding the Road TransportPackage, which was adopted in September. ThePackage seeks to modernise, replace and mergeprovisions governing road transport operators andaccess to the road transport markets.

The Maritime Safety Legislation Package continued tobe high on the agenda. The Package of eight acts wasadopted in May and aims at protecting the oceans and thecoasts from maritime disasters by improving theperformance of all the actors in the field.

In air transport, the Second Single European SkyPackage and the legislation linked to the EuropeanSafety Agency were the main items on the WorkingGroup’s agenda. Several Regulations concerning theso-called Community Blacklist of air carriers subjectto an operating ban were incorporated into the EEA

Agreement as well as several Regulations concerningaviation safety and security.

Free Movement of Persons

Subcommittee III on the Free Movement of Personscoordinates matters related to all aspects of themovement of persons, including the recognition ofprofessional qualifications and social security. ThreeWorking Groups report to Subcommittee III.

Free Movement of Workers,Employment and Social Affairs

In 2009, the Working Group on the Free Movement ofWorkers, Employment and Social Policy focusedmainly on the consequences of the economic crisis onemployment and social affairs, active inclusion andemployment strategies. It prepared the EEA JointCommittee Decision on EEA EFTA participation in theEuropean Year to Combat Poverty and SocialExclusion 2010.

The EEA EFTA States continued to participate in themeetings of the EU Technical Committee on the freemovement of workers and of the EU Advisory Committeeon the free movement of workers. They also attended themeetings of the EU Free Movement expert group.

With regard to Employment, the EEA EFTA Stateswere invited to the EU Employment Committee’s(EMCO) informal meetings, which are organised eachsemester by the Presidency. They also participated inEURES, a cooperation network between the EuropeanCommission and the Public Employment Services ofthe EEA Member States which provides informationand helps both workers and employers. As regardsSocial Policy, the EEA EFTA States were for the firsttime invited to attend the informal meeting of the EU’sSocial Protection Committee (SPC) held in Stockholmin September 2009.

The EEA EFTA States also took part in theEmployment section of the PROGRESS Programme,which supports the implementation of the EuropeanEmployment Strategy through promoting "flexicurity"strategies and the life-cycle approach to work. Theyalso participated in the social protection section of thePROGRESS Programme, which underpins the EU’scoordination activities to combat poverty and socialexclusion mainly through the Open Method ofCoordination in this area.


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Social Security

The main task of the Working Group on SocialSecurity was to follow up on the developments on theEU side regarding the Regulations amending andimplementing Regulation 883/2004 and theAdministrative Commission Decisions and Recom -mendations linked to the new EU social securitycoordination rules. The Working Group also preparedfor the EEA Joint Committee Decision completelyreplacing Annex VI to the EEA Agreement on thecoordination of social security schemes.

The EEA EFTA States participated in the meetings ofthe Administrative Commission on Social Security forMigrant Workers and in its working party, as well as inthe Technical Commission on Data Processing and theAudit Board.

The EEA EFTA States are also part of the MISSOCnetwork, a mutual information system on socialprotection in the European Union, which is part of thePROGRESS Programme (2007-2013) in which theEEA EFTA States participate.

Recognition of ProfessionalQualifications

In 2009, the Working Group on the Recognition ofProfessional Qualifications focused on theimplementation of Directive 2005/36/EC on therecognition of professional qualifications and on theincorporation of two Commission Regulationsamending this Directive.

The EEA EFTA States attended the meetings of theCommittee on the recognition of professionalqualifications, under which the Contact Points alsomeet, and of the Group of Coordinators for therecognition of professional qualifications, including itsnewly created subgroup on architecture.

Flanking and HorizontalPolicies

Subcommittee IV on Flanking and Horizontal Policiesunder the Standing Committee coordinates mattersrelated to all aspects of the horizontal provisions of theEEA Agreement as well as cooperation outside the fourfreedoms. Fourteen Working Groups report toSubcommittee IV.

Research and Development

In 2009, the key focus for the Working Group onResearch and Development was the development andgovernance of the European Research Area (ERA).The ERA grew out of the realisation that research inEurope suffers from insufficient funding, a lack of anenvironment to stimulate and exploit results, thefragmented nature of activities and the dispersal ofresources.

The Working Group also prepared the incorporation ofthe Council Regulation on the Community legalframework for a European Research InfrastructureConsortium (ERIC). This proposal is designed tofacilitate the joint establishment and operation ofresearch facilities between several Member States andcountries associated with the Community R&DFramework Programme. All EFTA States foreseeparticipation in ERIC.

Over the last few years, the European Commission hasset up five Executive Agencies, direct subordinates ofthe European Commission, with a view to entrustingthem with certain tasks relating to the management ofEU Programmes. The EEA EFTA States contribute tothe Executive Agencies on the same basis as for theProgrammes.

In September 2009, the Working Group organised amini-seminar on Sustainable Development togetherwith the Working Group on Environment. Part ofthis event involved a visit to an exhibition onSustainable Development organised by the SwedishEU Presidency, after which the Commissionpresented their sustainable development policy,linked to the concept introduced by the Brundtlandreport from 1987, “Our Common Future”. Theintegration of the environmental, economic andsocial pillars of sustainable development will be akey challenge both for the EU and the EEA in theyears to come.

The Working Group also prepared the incorporation ofthe EEA Joint Committee Decision on a EuropeanInstitute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Finally the Working Group has been preparing fornew legal initiatives under the European ResearchArea, such as a Recommendation on measures tocombat neurogenerative diseases, in particularAlzheimer, through joint programming of researchactivities.


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Environment

The main issues followed by the Working Group in2009 were the revision of the EU emission tradingscheme, carbon capture and storage and the inclusionof aviation in the scheme. The trading scheme is basedon the recognition that creating a price for CO2,through the establishment of a market for emissionreductions, offers the most cost-effective way forcountries to meet their Kyoto obligations and movetowards a low-carbon economy. The EEA EFTA Stateshave been participating in the trading scheme since 1 January 2008. The Working Group also closelyfollowed a proposal for a revised Directive onintegrated pollution prevention and control andproposals on waste and bio waste. The Working Groupalso discussed in detail several outstanding issuesincluding the Directive on the protection of theenvironment through criminal law, the MarineFramework Directive, and the Flood Directive.

In 2009, the EEA Joint Committee adopted a broadrange of decisions regarding eco-labels, the shipmentof waste, the monitoring and reporting of greenhousegas emissions from aviation pursuant to the EUemission trading scheme, the management of wastefrom extractive industries, environmental liability, theprotection of groundwater against pollution andnational emission ceilings for atmospheric pollutants.

On several occasions the Working Group discussedpolicy documents and progress in the field ofenvironmental legislation with the Commission.Among the topics discussed were the Directive oncarbon capture and storage, the revision of theDirective on integrated pollution prevention andcontrol, the Directive on waste from electrical andelectronic equipment, the Commission Communicationon the EU and the Arctic, and the White Paper on theEU Climate Change Adaptation Programme.

In 2009, several expert meetings were held with theCommission in relation to the revision of the EUemission trading scheme, the Directive on carboncapture and storage and the inclusion of aviation in theEmission Scheme. These meetings focused on theforeseeable need for adaptations, as well as informing theaviation sector about the extended scope of the EmissionScheme with the inclusion of the EEA EFTA States.

The Working Group on the Environment and theWorking Group on Research and Development jointlydiscussed issues of mutual relevance and met with the

Commission to discuss the future EU research actionsin relation to Sustainable Development.

In 2009, the Group also met with both the SwedishPresidency to discuss its priorities for the second halfof 2009, and the Spanish Presidency to discuss itspriorities for the first half of 2010.

Education, Training and YouthEEA EFTA participation in the Lifelong LearningProgramme (2007-2013) and the Youth in ActionProgramme (2007-2013) are the main priority areas ofthe Working Group on Education, Training and Youth.

The Working Group followed the development of aEuropean Qualification Framework (EQF), which is atranslation tool for comparing and transferringqualifications across the EEA. The Working Group alsoconsidered the incorporation into the EEA Agreement ofthe Recommendation on the establishment of a EuropeanQuality Assurance Reference Framework for VocationalEducation and Training (EQARF), the Recommendationon the establishment of the European Credit system forVocational Education and Training (ECVET) and theRecommendation on mobility of young volunteersacross Europe.

Another key issue for the Working Group during 2009was the EEA EFTA participation in the “Rights of theChild” initiative. The Working Group also set upbriefing and reporting structures towards the HighLevel Group on Education and Training Policies in theEU, followed the development of an EU Strategy forYouth and drafted an EEA EFTA Comment on theCommission Green Paper promoting learning mobilityof young people.

During 2009, the Working Group also followed theCommission Communications in areas such asmultilingualism, schools and migration.

Gender Equality, Anti-Discrimination and Family Policy

A key focus for the Group in 2009 was to study theEU’s renewed Social Agenda and the “reconciliationpackage” to reconcile private and professional life,consisting of three proposals for Directives on parentalleave, maternal leave and on self-employed andassisting spouses respectively, with a view to preparingthe EEA EFTA positions. The Working Group also


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prepared the incorporation into the EEA Agreement ofthe Directive on equal access for women and men togoods and services, which was adopted in the EEAJoint Committee on 4 December 2009. Anotherpriority was to follow EU developments on theproposal for a Directive covering anti-discriminationoutside the labour market.

The EEA EFTA States continued their activeparticipation in the gender equality strand of thePROGRESS Programme and in the Daphne IIIProgramme on Community action to prevent violenceagainst children, young people and women and toprotect victims and groups at risk (2007-2013).

Health and Safety at Work andLabour Law

A major event at the end of 2009 was the incorporationinto the EEA Agreement of the EEA Joint CommitteeDecision allowing the EEA EFTA States to participatein the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work,the so called “Bilbao Agency”.

A key focus for the Working Group was the continuedEU discussion on the revision of the Working Time

Directive. The experts also prepared for the futureincorporation of the Temporary Agency WorkDirective, as well as the European Works CouncilDirective, into the EEA Agreement, and incorporatedDirectives concerning the protection of workers fromelectromagnetic fields as well as the protection ofworkers from the insolvency of their employers.

The Working Group continued to follow closely thedebate taking place at EU level with regard to thePosting of Workers Directive.

Consumer AffairsDuring 2009, the EEA EFTA States closely followed thedevelopments regarding the revision of the Consumeracquis and, in particular, the proposal for a Directive on Consumer Rights. In this context, an EEA EFTAComment was submitted to the EU in March 2009.

The yearly Consumer Markets Scoreboard, which isone of the actions foreseen under the ConsumerProgramme (2007-2013), monitors the performance ofmarkets in terms of economic and social outcomes forconsumers. One of the Working Group’s priorities in2009 was to ensure the inclusion of EEA EFTA data inthe 2010 edition of the Scoreboard.

The EEA EFTA States have for several years cooperated informally with the European Agency for Safety and Health at work, the "Bilbao Agency" (picture). From 2009 an EEAJoint Committee Decision ensured their full participation in the Agency.


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The Group also tracked progress on the Green Paperon Collective Redress and on the revision of thePackage Travel Directive. The EEA EFTA States alsocontinued their participation in the EU’s ConsumerPolicy Network (CPN).

Consumers’ ConsultativeCommitteeThe Consumers' Consultative Committee, made up ofrepresentatives from the consumers' organisations inthe EEA EFTA States, plays an advisory role onconsumer issues. The Committee met in 2009, inconnection with a meeting of ANEC, an organisationresponsible for coordinating consumer participation inEuropean standardisation.

Enterprise PolicyThe main issues followed by the Working Group in 2009were the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Policy(SME), the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme(CIP), Your Europe and EU Better Regulation. The SMEPolicy recognises the central role of SMEs in Europeaneconomies and puts into place a comprehensive SMEpolicy framework. The CIP Programme also targetssmall and medium-sized enterprises and helps them toinnovate. Your Europe provides practical information onthe rights and opportunities in the Internal Market,focusing on citizens and enterprises. The BetterRegulation initiative aims to improve and simplify newand existing legislation in the EU by evaluating its likelyeconomic, social and environmental impacts.

The Working Group continued to follow thedevelopment of SOLVIT, an on-line problem-solvingnetwork through which the authorities work togetherto solve problems, caused by the misapplication ofInternal Market law by public authorities, withoutlegal proceedings. The Working Group alsomonitored the development of the Internal MarketInformation system (IMI), which provides MemberState administrations with a multilingual, open andflexible database tool to support the mutualassistance and information exchange required toimplement Internal Market legislation efficiently.

In 2009, the EFTA Secretariat hosted the EditorialBoard meeting of Your Europe, where Norwayannounced their participation in the business part ofYour Europe.

Civil Protection

The EEA EFTA States continued to actively participatein two Programmes in the field of civil protection: theCommunity Mechanism for Civil Protection and theCivil Protection Financial Instrument 2007-2013.

The horizontal package concerning European Critical Infrastructure, including the EU Programme“Prevention, Preparedness and ConsequenceManagement of Terrorism and Other Security relatedRisks”, continued to be closely monitored andcoordinated by the Working Group on Civil Protection.Particular attention was given to the Directive on CriticalInfrastructure Protection with a view to possibleincorporation into the EEA Agreement. The Group alsofollowed the developments at EU level with regard toCBRN, (chemicals, biological, radiological and nuclearthreats) and the “Stockholm Programme” on “an openand secure Europe serving and protecting the citizen”.

Cultural Affairs

The key priority for the Working Group on CulturalAffairs in 2009 was the EU Culture Programme, whichwas originally set up to stimulate the mobility of artistsand art. The Culture 2007-2013 Programme not onlysets ambitious political goals for unity of diversitythrough mobility, but also contains a new methodologyof consultation and partnership, as the Programmeattempts to reach out to stakeholders for help inimplementing the Programme. The Working Groupconnected the EEA EFTA States to the development ofthe Open Method of Coordination (OMC) linked to theEuropean Agenda for Culture.

The Norwegian language was included in the business section of theEuropean Commission’s website ‘Your Europe’. This website provides practicalinformation and online government services for companies looking forbusiness in another country.


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The EFTA Working Group on Cultural Affairs alsoprepared EFTA participation in the European Year for Creativity and Innovation 2009, followed thepreparations for the European Year of Volunteering 2011and monitored the EU digital library “Europeana”.

During 2009, the Working Group considered theincorporation of sport into the EEA Agreement, and thepreparation of a sports programme, which is open forEEA EFTA participation.

Public HealthA key focus for the Group was to closely followdevelopments at the European Parliament and atCouncil level on the proposal for a Directive on theapplication of Patients’ Rights in Cross-BorderHealthcare, and a close dialogue with the Commissionon this issue continued in several meetings.

Particular attention was also given to the status ofpreparedness with regard to influenza A, H1N1, as wellas to the proposal for a Directive on organ donations andtransplants, and developments at EU level with regard toalcohol, tobacco and health inequalities.

In May 2009 the Working Group submitted an EEAEFTA comment to the EU’s Green Paper on “theEuropean workforce for health”.

Budgetary MattersThe main task of the Working Group on BudgetaryMatters is to monitor and coordinate the preparation ofthe yearly EEA EFTA budget covering the EEA EFTAcontributions to the EU budget in return forparticipation in EU Programmes, actions and agencies.The principles applied in relation to the contributionsare set out in Article 82 and Protocol 32 of the EEAAgreement. The Working Group meets regularly withthe European Commission to ensure the timely andcorrect execution of the budgetary procedures.

During 2009, the Working Group focused on the properimplementation of the new procedures established by therevised Protocol 32 of the EEA Agreement which wasadopted in 2008 and entered into force for the 2009budget. A substantial change in process is the reductionfrom two to one call for funds per year which hasfacilitated the work of the EEA EFTA authoritiesresponsible for executing the payment. Another longoutstanding issue which was solved in 2009 was the

reimbursement by the Commission to the EEA EFTAStates of unspent earmarked revenue.

The EEA EFTA financial contribution to theoperational costs of the joint EEA/EU activities aredetermined by applying a proportionality factor, asdefined in Article 82 1a) of the EEA Agreement, to therelevant EU budget lines. In 2009, this proportionalityfactor was 2.52% compared to 2.39% in 2008.

The way the EEA EFTA States share the totalfinancial contribution between them is referred to asthe EEA EFTA internal cost sharing. In 2009, theWorking Group on Budgetary Matters agreed on thefinal details implementing the Standing CommitteeDecision of December 2008 establishing a newmethod of calculating the internal cost sharing. Forthe 2009 EEA EFTA budget and onwards, theinternal cost sharing of the EEA EFTA States will be based on the same GDP statistics as used by the Commission when calculating the yearlyproportionality factor. In 2009, Iceland’s individualproportionality factor was 0.12%, Liechtenstein’s0.02% and Norway’s 2.26% and the correspondinginternal cost share: 4.82%, 1% and 94.18%.

The EEA EFTA States committed themselves tocontributing €228 million to the operational costs ofthe EU budget in 2009, an increase of €34 million overthe €194 million in 2008. The corresponding EEAEFTA payments in 2009 were €219 million, whichconstituted an increase of €20 million over the €199million in 2008.

The EEA EFTA States also contribute to theCommission's administrative costs. The amount of thiscontribution is agreed upon yearly. An important part ofthis contribution is the secondment of national experts. In2009, it was agreed through the budgetary procedure tosecond 33 EEA EFTA national experts to the variousDirectorates, within the European Commission, dealingwith the joint EU Programmes and activities.

Heads of EFTA NationalStatistical Institutes

In 2009, the Working Group of the Heads of EFTANational Statistical Institutes (EFTA NSIs) dealt inparticular with:


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• the development of the 2009 EEA AnnualStatistical Programme based on an assessment ofthe EEA relevance of the EC Annual StatisticalProgramme;

• an exchange of information on the preparation ofthe 2011 round on population census;

• the new set up of the European Statistical TrainingProgramme with effect from 2010 through a newconsortium financed by Eurostat;

• the re-organisation of Eurostat.

EFTA-EU Cooperation in theField of Statistics

The EFTA Statistical Office (ESO) was created in theperspective of the EEA Agreement to liaise betweenEurostat – the Statistical Office of the EuropeanCommunities – and the EFTA National StatisticalInstitutes (NSIs). The ESO has five staff members,consisting of the Head of the EFTA Statistical Office,the Deputy Head, two assistants and one trainee. In2009 the Deputy Head Richard Ragnarsøn left the ESOafter six years, and was replaced by Kurt Wass.

Integration of EFTA statistics in the EuropeanStatistical System

The basic legal act on Community Statistics, the so-called “Statistical Law” from 1997 was replaced in2009 by a new, revised, modernised and extended acton European statistics - Regulation (EC) No 223/2009of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11March 2009. Since this new Regulation has significantimplications for the EFTA States, the ESO promotedEFTA interests for this Regulation. The ESO and theEFTA States actively participated in the decisionshaping process of the new Regulation throughout 2008until its finalisation in early 2009. This legal act isrelevant both for the EEA Agreement and the bilateralagreement between Switzerland and the EuropeanCommunity on statistical cooperation (CH-EC BilateralAgreement), and it will have to be included andreflected in the agreements. The legal act was adoptedby the Joint Committee on 4 December 2009.

In addition to its core activities, EFTA’s visibility in2009 was ensured by the ESO and the EFTA NSIsthrough:

• more EFTA data in Eurostat databases andpublications;

• EFTA’s active involvement in EU technicalcooperation programmes in the field of statisticswith European and non-European third countries;

• significant contribution to the running anddevelopment of the European Statistical TrainingProgramme.

Production and dissemination of EFTA statistics

Protocol 30 of the EEA Agreement and the CH-ECBilateral Agreement provide for statistical informationfrom all EFTA States to be transmitted to Eurostat forstorage, processing and dissemination. The ESOcontinues to strive for the regular inclusion of EFTAdata in Eurostat databases and publications. Thisactivity requires constant monitoring of the treatmentof EFTA data in Eurostat's dissemination process inorder to identify reasons for non-inclusion of EFTAdata. The ESO is in regular contact with Eurostat toensure that data from all EFTA countries are publishedwhen available. The tangible result of this jointinitiative between the ESO, the EFTA NSIs andEurostat has been successful as inclusion of EFTA datain Eurostat databases and publications is increasing,although there is still some room for improvement.

EFTA participation in Eurostat working groups andcommittees

In 2009, Eurostat organised close to 200 meetings toprepare and implement new legislation, exchange anddevelop methodologies, and follow up on datacollection. The EFTA Member States participateactively in the relevant meetings. Swiss delegatesparticipated in Eurostat meetings on an equal footingwith colleagues from the EEA EFTA countries.

Technical Cooperation in theField of Statistics

EFTA cooperates closely with Eurostat on technicalcooperation in the field of statistics. This cooperation isbased on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) thatcame into force on 1 January 2008. The MoU, whichcovers a three-year period (2008-2010), involves fundstotalling €1.9 million. The general objective of theMoU is to ensure further close cooperation between theEFTA States and Eurostat in a number of programmesfor technical cooperation within the field of statistics.EFTA’s involvement in technical cooperationprogrammes within the scope of the MoU gives priority


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to countries which have concluded declarations oncooperation or Free Trade Agreements with EFTA.Support is granted mainly to developing countries andeconomies in transition covered by the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policy (ENP), to the Western Balkans,and to Turkey. The scope of the cooperation can alsoinclude EFTA free trade and prospective partners inother regions of the world.

Two EFTA national experts are seconded to Eurostat aspart of the contribution to ensure continuity of supportand EFTA visibility in the overall programming andmanagement of EFTA-EU actions.

Technical cooperation activities and projects in 2009

The main technical cooperation activities and projectsin the field of statistics were:

• The project “global assessment/peer reviews ofTACIS countries’ national statistical systems” jointlyundertaken by the European Commission (Eurostat),the United Nations Economic Commission forEurope (UNECE) and EFTA. This was a rather bigproject with several objectives that aimed to:

- assess the institutional framework of nationalstatistical systems in the Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS countries) and theirtechnical and organisational capacity to produce anddisseminate official statistics in all relevant areas;

- assess the compliance level of national statisticalsystems with international statistical requirementsand to identify the areas where the adoption ofEuropean standards is a relevant objective;

- to prepare recommendations regarding theprospective fields of cooperation within futuretechnical assistance programmes of internationalorganisations and other cooperation partners.

• Training course for national accounts experts fromMorocco on chain indices with the purpose ofcompiling time series for economic indicators inconstant prices;

• Training course for experts from Meda countriesproviding an overview of statistical metadata andits practical use;

• Training course for experts from the statisticaloffices of the Western Balkan countries onadvanced methods of survey sampling;

• Training course for experts from Meda countries onthe use of administrative registers in the productionof statistics;

• Finance the participation of experts in internationaland regional events in the field of statistics.

EFTA experts at Eurostat

Statistical experts from EFTA countries work atEurostat as seconded national experts (SNEs). At theend of 2009, three experts from Norway wereseconded to Eurostat within the framework of the EEAAgreement, and a fourth expert from Norway will be inplace at the beginning of 2010. There were two Swissexperts seconded to Eurostat under the umbrella of theCH-EC Bilateral Agreement in the field of statistics bythe end of 2009. In addition, two Norwegian expertswere seconded to Eurostat as a contribution in kind tothe EFTA-EU technical cooperation programme in theWestern Balkans and Turkey and the MediterraneanArea (MEDSTAT). During 2009, two Swiss expertsand one Norwegian expert left Eurostat.

European Statistical Training Programme

The EFTA Secretariat has committed itself through anexchange of letters with Eurostat to finance annually theorganisation of at least two training courses. Thesecourses are provided by EFTA National StatisticalInstitutes and are open to the participation of statisticiansfrom EFTA and EU Member States. In return, Eurostatensures that EFTA statisticians have the right toparticipate in all ESTP courses financed by Eurostat.

In 2009, two courses were organised by StatisticsNorway on the use of administrative registers inproduction of statistics and on waste statistics, and oneby the Swiss Federal Statistical Office on data analysisand data modelling. Close to 30 courses wereorganised within the framework of the ESTP, and allcourses were open to participation from the EFTAMember States.


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15 beneficiary states within the deadline. With more than1100 projects, programmes and funds in implementation,the FMO’s focus has since been to follow up and providesupport to beneficiary states and project promoters. By theend of 2009, 53 projects had already been completed, themajority of which are in Poland and within theenvironment and sustainable development sectors.

Sector Focus: 50% EnergySavings

In Poland, more than 350 school, hospital and publicbuildings are being renovated to improve their energyefficiency and to introduce renewable energy sources.An independent review estimates that energyconsumption in these buildings will on average fall bymore than 50%. This will have multiple benefits,including reducing emissions of pollutants andgreenhouse gases, reducing public expenditure onheating, and providing students, teachers, patients andhealth personnel with healthy learning, working andtreatment conditions.

Since the establishment of the European EconomicArea (EEA) in 1994, the EEA EFTA States havecontributed substantial funding to the reduction ofeconomic and social disparities in Europe. The EEAand Norway Grants were established in 2004, and inthe five-year period 2004-2009 a total of €1.3 billionwas made available to the beneficiary states. The 15beneficiary states comprise the 12 countries that havejoined the EU since 2004, as well as Greece, Portugaland Spain. The Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) inBrussels, which is administratively linked to the EFTASecretariat, administers the grant schemes.

Over 1200 DevelopmentProjects

By the end of the five-year commitment period on 30April 2009, 1250[7] projects, programmes and funds hadbeen awarded support through the EEA and NorwayGrants. Close to a quarter of the commitments weremade to environment and sustainable developmentprojects, which in a large part focused on energyefficiency, renewable energy and the reduction ofgreenhouse gases. Within the priority sector for healthand childcare, the second largest in terms of number ofprojects supported, various initiatives aim to providechildren with the best possible conditions in which togrow up and to improve accessibility and quality ofhealth services. The EEA and Norway Grants are alsoamong the prime funding sources for civil societydevelopment in Central and Southern Europe. 19 NGOfunds in 12 beneficiary states support projects run bynon-governmental organisations within areas such asdemocracy, human rights, social inclusion, childprotection, family issues, and environmental protection.

From Commitment toImplementation Phase

During the first part of 2009, the FMO focused on meetingthe commitment deadline of 30 April. Over the threemonths leading up to this date, 471 applications wereappraised, and all available funding was committed in all

THE EEA AND NORWAYGRANTS

Energy insulation of public buildings contributes to reducing CO2 emissions andimproving indoor climate (Photo: Emanuela and David Tatarkiewiczowie –Odonata)

[7] The figures in this overview include 53 projects under the Norwegian Cooperation Programmes with Bulgaria and Romania, which comprise the Norway Grants forthese two countries. The Programmes are administered separately by Innovation Norway.


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Sector Focus: CooperationAcross Borders

Stakeholders in underprivileged border regions inCentral Europe are brought together in joint projectsspurring economic growth and social development. Animportant component of these projects is to establishinstitutional and personal networks involving partnersfrom neighbouring countries and areas bordering theEEA, such as Ukraine, Belarus and the WesternBalkans. Active exchange of know-how and closerinstitutional and personal contacts across the bordersstrengthen the competitiveness of regional economiesand encourage local entrepreneurs and small tomedium sized enterprises in these regions.

The EEA and Norway Grants2009-2014

On 18 December 2009, Iceland, Liechtenstein andNorway agreed with the European Union on newfinancial contributions for the 2009-14 period.According to the Agreed Minutes, the three donorstates will make available €1.79 billion to thebeneficiary states to reduce social and economicdisparities in the European Economic Area and to thestrengthening of their relations with the beneficiarystates in the five-year period. Of this amount, 97% willbe provided by Norway.

Supported Sectors Fig. 3Distribution of awarded grants by the commitment deadline of 30 April 2009:

Priority Sectors Projects Grants

Academic Research 95 € 83 000 000Conservation of European Cultural Heritage 225 € 257 600 000Environment and Sustainable Development 356 € 283 800 000Health and Childcare 241 € 175 300 000Human Resource Development 166 € 130 700 000NGO Funds 19 € 85 300 000Regional Policy and Cross-Border Activities 60 € 56 900 000Schengen and the Judiciary 57 € 127 100 000Other 31 € 30 700 000

The EEA and Norway Grants spur development and cooperation in European border regions (Photo: The Carpathian Foundation, Poland).


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The ParliamentaryCommittees

In 2009 the Committee of Members of Parliament of theEFTA Countries / Committee of Members of Parliamentof the EFTA States (CMP/MPS) had four meetings andfocused their work on a variety of topics such as: thelatest developments in EFTA third country relations;labour standards and environmental protection in FreeTrade Agreements; developments in the Internal Market;climate change and the Copenhagen Summit; and theDoha Development Agenda.

Committee work

The CMP/MPS meet with the EFTA Ministers twice ayear, at the summer Ministerial meetings and theinformal Ministerial meetings in late autumn. In thisyear's joint meetings, in Hamar, Norway in June and inGeneva in December, the Parliamentarians receivedupdates from the Ministerial Chair on the maindevelopments in EFTA third country relations.Concerning the EEA, the Committee membersinquired about specific issues. In addition, inNovember 2009 the MPS met with the EFTA StandingCommittee at Ministerial level in Brussels to discussdevelopments in the EEA. These joint meetingsconstitute an increasingly important dialogue between

the EFTA Council and the EFTA Standing Committeeat Ministerial level on the one hand and the Membersof Parliament of the EFTA Countries on the other.

In addition to its regular meetings, a CMP delegationvisited Moscow in October with the aim of adding itsweight to strengthening trade relations between theRussian Federation and EFTA. In Moscow thedelegation met with the State Duma Committee onEconomic Policy and Entrepreneurship; the DeputyMinister for Economic Development; the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma, as well as representativesfrom Russian and European businesses. In December,Parliamentarians from the Faroese Parliament attendedthe CMP/MPS meeting in Geneva as observers for thefirst time.

The Chair of the CMP in 2009 was Brigitta M. Gadient(Switzerland) and the Vice-Chair was Árni ÞorSigurdsson (Iceland).

EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee

The EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee (EEA JPC)met twice during the year, in Strasbourg in March andin Trondheim in October. As with previous meetings,the EEA JPC engaged in a dialogue with the EEACouncil, the EEA Joint Committee and the EFTASurveillance Authority on the functioning of the EEAand on progress regarding prior resolutions of the JPC.The EEA JPC discussed and adopted resolutions on thefunctioning of the EEA Agreement 2008; labour law inthe EEA: the posting of workers and the EEA and theglobal financial crisis. In addition, the Committeediscussed a working paper on the EEA and regionalcooperation. As has become customary, the Committeeforwarded its resolutions to the EEA Council, theEuropean Commission and to relevant ParliamentaryCommittees. At the 32nd EEA JPC meeting inStrasbourg, the European Commission’s ExternalRelations Commissioner and Energy Commissionerwere among speakers at the EEA JPC High LevelForum on the Security of Energy Supply and theImpact on the Financial Market.

The President of the EEA JPC in 2009 was HarryQuaderer (Liechtenstein), Bilyana Raeva (Bulgaria)was Vice-President until her successor, Pat the CopeGallagher (Ireland), took over in October.

ADVISORY BODIES

Members of the European Parliament and Parliamentarians from Iceland,Norway and Liechtenstein met with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner forTrade and European Neighbourhood Policy, and Andris Piebalgs, Commissionerfor Energy, in Strasbourg, France, on 25 March 2009 for the 32nd meeting of theEEA Joint Parliamentary Committee.


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The Consultative Committees

In 2009, the EFTA Consultative Committee (EFTA CC)had four internal meetings and focused among others onthe economic and financial crisis, with specific emphasison its impact on employment and growth, on thefunctioning of the internal market, and on new initiativesin the financial sector. Furthermore, the Committeeworked on the importance of Green jobs as a responseand solution both to the economic and climate crisis, andon EFTA third country developments, with specificemphasis on the relationship between trade andenvironment. The question of trade and labour standardswas also discussed.

Committee work

In addition to the internal meetings, the Committee alsomet with the Standing Committee of the EFTA States inMarch, the EFTA Ministers in June and November, andthe EFTA Parliamentary Committee in June. In themeeting with EFTA Ministers, the focus was on thelatest developments in EFTA third country relationsincluding an exchange of views on a Committeestatement on the need for increased dialogue with regardto EFTA’s Free Trade Agreements. Concerning theEEA, the Committee met for the first time with theEFTA Standing Committee at Ministerial level inBrussels in November. The Committee continues tostrongly emphasise the importance of holding jointmeetings, which contribute to enhancing the dialoguewith relevant EFTA authorities both at political,parliamentary, and diplomatic levels in the four EFTAcountries.

Throughout the year, the EFTA CC also dedicated timeto the situation in Iceland and Iceland’s application forEU membership, and in October, the Committeeorganised a three day meeting in Reykjavik to studythe latest developments.

Also in October, the Committee was represented as anobserver in the EFTA Parliamentary Committeedelegation visit to Moscow where delegates met withParliamentarians, Russian trade authorities, and ofparticular importance for the EFTA social partners,with Russian and European business representatives.

The Chair of the EFTA CC in 2009 was the lateWenche Paulsrud (Norwegian Confederation ofVocational Unions), with Vice-Chairs GuðlaugurStefánsson (Confederation of Icelandic Employers)and Josef Beck (Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerceand Industry). Guðlaugur Stefánsson was elected newEFTA CC Chair in November 2009.

EEA Joint Consultative Committee

At its meeting in May, hosted by the EuropeanEconomic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels,the EEA Consultative Committee (EEA CC) held anexchange of views with relevant speakers on the globaleconomic and financial crisis. The Committee alsoengaged in a dialogue with representatives of the EEAJoint Committee on the latest EEA developments. Inaddition, the EEA CC discussed and adopted aresolution on “Green jobs: the importance of ambitiousenergy and climate policies for economic recovery andrenewed growth” and on “Baltic Sea region: the role oforganised civil society organisations and socialpartners in improving regional cooperation andidentifying a regional strategy”.

Osmosis

Cooperation between social partners in the EEA wasfurther reinforced in 2009 through the Osmosisprocedure, which allows representatives of the EFTAConsultative Committee to participate in the work ofthe European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)and vice-versa. Cooperation in 2009 included, amongothers, EFTA participation in the EESC JointConsultative Committee meetings with Croatia andTurkey; the EESC Lisbon Strategy Observatory; theEESC Single Market Observatory and the EESCSustainable Development Observatory. In addition, theco-Chairs of the EEA CC participated in the EEA JPCmeetings in March and October 2009. This reflects thecontinued cooperation between the social partners andthe Parliamentarians in the EEA.

The co-Chairs of the EEA CC in 2009 were, for theEFTA CC the late Wenche Paulsrud (Norway) and forthe EESC Marja-Liisa Peltola Finland.

The European Economic Area Consultative Committee (EEA-CC) held its 17thmeeting on 26 May 2009 in Brussels.


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One of EFTA’s obligations is to inform its stakeholdersand the general public of its activities in an open andtransparent manner. Within the area of publiccommunication, 2009 was an active year;

• a number of seminars and workshops were held inthe EFTA Member States, at the EFTA Secretariat’slocations in Brussels and Geneva, and elsewhere inEurope;

• EFTA invited for a reception on 10 June 2009 inBrussels, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of theEEA Agreement;

• in respect of the 15th anniversary of the EEAAgreement as well as the 50th anniversary of EFTAin 2010, EFTA produced two additional logos usedfor the respective publications and events;

• several new publications were prepared, updatedand published;

• the EFTA website was continuously updatedthroughout the year;

• presentations were given to visiting groups. InBrussels alone, around 50 groups (900 people)visited the Secretariat during 2009.

Websites

In 2009 the Secretariat further developed its onlinepresence. In the second half of the year, work on themigration of a new Content Management Systemcommenced.

Seminars

In 2009, EFTA held several seminars and workshops,of which the most notable were the following:

• between 13 and 24 July 2009, the EFTA and SACUStates advised local Southern African businesses onhow to make the most of the Free Trade Agreementthrough a series of five Export Promotion seminars;

• leaders from government and academia cametogether for a seminar held in Geneva on 10November 2009 to mark the 50th anniversary of EFTAin 2010 as well as the 15th anniversary of the entry intoforce of the Agreement on the European EconomicArea (EEA) earlier that year. This seminar is reflectedin a book that will be presented on 3 May 2010 at the50th anniversary event in Geneva;

• EFTA’s bi-annual two day EEA Seminar, whichprovided over 200 professionals with a thoroughoverview of the EEA, offering particular focus oncurrent issues such as financial reforms in the wakeof the crisis.

Publications

The latest versions of all EFTA publications areavailable online on EFTA’s website, where papercopies can also be ordered free of charge (subject toavailability). The following publications were releasedin 2009:

• This is EFTA 2009: An annual publication, whichprovides an easy overview of EFTA and itsactivities, together with useful trade and economicstatistics;

• The EFTA Bulletin: Decision shaping in theEuropean Economic Area, looking at the decisionshaping process in the European Economic Area ingeneral and EFTA’s role in particular;

INFORMATION ACTIVITIES

Kåre Bryn (left), Secretary-General of EFTA, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, formerForeign Minister of Iceland, and Eivinn Berg, former Norwegian chief negotiator,at the 15th anniversary reception of the EEA Agreement.


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• The EFTA Commemorative Publication: “EuropeanEconomic Area 1994-2009”, revisiting the origins ofthe EEA, and reproducing extracts of some of the keyofficial texts and documents from the time of itsinception, supplemented by pictures from the period.

In addition to the new publications, EFTA updated thefact sheet ‘EFTA at a Glance’, which gives a briefintroduction to EFTA and its activities.

EEA Supplement

The EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of theEuropean Union is a translation into Icelandic and Norwegian of EEA-relevant texts. The EEASupplement contains material from:

• the EEA Joint Committee;

• the Standing Committee of the EFTA States;

• the EFTA Surveillance Authority;

• the EFTA Court;

• the EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee;

• the EEA Consultative Committee;

• the European Commission.

The EEA Supplement is published on the EFTAwebsite once a week. Additional issues which includeEEA Joint Committee Decisions and EC Acts are alsoprinted and distributed to subscribers. Since 2008 thetwo language versions of the EEA Supplement are nolonger synchronised as to content.

In 2009, the EFTA Secretariat published 72 issues ofthe EEA Supplement. The publication of actsincorporated in the EEA Agreement decreased in 2009compared to the previous year, especially for theIcelandic version.

By the end of 2009, all EC acts adopted in 2006 hadbeen published in Norwegian. For Iceland, all EC actsfrom April 2007 were published while a number of actsfrom June to December 2007 were published as well as32 acts from 2008 and 2009.

Publication in the EEA Supplement 2009 Fig. 4

Number of pagesIcelandic Norwegian

EEA Joint Committee Joint Committee Decisions 248 248

EC Acts 1 398 3 310

EFTA Standing Committee 37 37

EFTA Surveillance Authority 394 394

EFTA Court 16 16

EU Institutions 1 097 1 097

Total 3 190 5 102

Two new logos were produced for the 15th anniversary of the EEA Agreementand for the 50th anniversary of EFTA. These were introduced for the first time atthe ‘Partners in Progress’ seminar on 10 November 2009 in Geneva.


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At the end of 2009 there were 24 fixed term and shortterm staff based in Geneva, and 62 in Brussels andLuxembourg. The Financial Mechanism Officeemployed 40 staff in Brussels. All figures are on afulltime equivalent basis and include trainees.

The Secretariat’s budget is prepared according to theframework budgeting principle established in publicadministrations in the Member States. This approachaims to increase awareness of budgetary spending atall levels. The budget is accompanied by aperformance plan where the Secretariat’s activities aredivided into projects. The plan and the ensuingreporting informs the Member States of the costs andoutcomes of the Secretariat’s various activities.

EFTA’s budget is prepared in two currencies: Swissfrancs and euros. The total budget for 2009 wasequivalent to 24 437 000 Swiss francs.

The EFTA Board of Auditors

The EFTA Board of Auditors (EBOA) is a permanentCommittee established in May 1992. The Board is thesupreme audit authority of EFTA and performs a yearlyaudit of the three EFTA institutions, the EFTASecretariat, the EFTA Surveillance Authority and theEFTA Court in cooperation with external auditors. Formatters related to the Secretariat, the Board meets “atfour” (one representative of each EFTA Member State)and reports directly to the EFTA Council. For mattersrelated to the EEA Agreement (the EFTA SurveillanceAuthority and the EFTA Court), the Board meets “atthree” (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, whereSwitzerland is an observer) and reports to theESA/Court Committee. The Board also works incooperation with the European Court of Auditors. In2009, the EBOA met three times.

The yearly audit report the EBOA issues on the EFTASecretariat will be available on the Secretariat’swebsite.

ADMINISTRATION

EFTA Budget 2009 (in CHF) Fig. 5

Budget Posts Budget 2009Trade Relations 2 998 000Managing the EEA Agreement 5 756 000EFTA/EU Statistical Cooperation 526 000Secretary/general services 1 220 000EU-EFTA and EFTA Cooperation Programmes 3 323 000Internal Activities 10 614 000Total EFTA Secretariat 24 437 000

Contributions to the EFTA Budget 2009 Fig. 6

Member State Contributions (in CHF) Share (in %)

Iceland 1 151 000 4.59Liechtenstein 225 000 0.97Norway 13 382 000 53.00Switzerland 9 679 000 41.44Total 24 437 000 100.00


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APPENDICESEFTA Parliamentary Committee Members

Iceland

Mr Árni Þór Sigurðsson Left-Green Movement

Ms Valgerður Bjarnadóttir Social-Democratic Alliance

Ms Þorgerður K. Gunnarsdóttir Independence Party

Mr Sigmundur D. Gunnlaugsson Progressive Party

Ms Jónína Rós Guðmundsdóttir Social-Democratic Alliance

Liechtenstein

Mr Harry Quaderer Patriotic Union (MPS Chair)

Mr Albert Frick Progressive Citizen's Party

Norway

Mr Svein Roald Hansen Labour Party

Mr Harald T. Nesvik Progress Party

Ms Gina Knutson Barstad Labour Party

Ms Laila Gustavsen Labour Party

Ms Laila Marie Reiersten Progress Party

Mr Jan Tore Sanner Conservative Party

Switzerland

Ms Brigitta Gadient Civic-Democratic Party of Switzerland (CMP Chair)

Mr Didier Burkhalter Liberal-Democratic Party

Mr Hans Widmer Social-Democratic Party

Mr Hans Kaufmann Swiss People's Party

Mr Eugen David Christian-Democratic Party


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EFTA Consultative Committee Members

Iceland

Mr Guðlaugur Stefánsson (Chair from November 2009) Confederation of Icelandic Employers

Mr Haraldur Ingi Birgisson Icelandic Chamber of Commerce

Mr Halldór Grönvold Icelandic Confederation of Labour

Mr Páll H. Hannesson Federation of State and Municipal Employees

Mr Bjarni Már Gylfason Federation of Icelandic Industries

Liechtenstein

Mr Josef Beck (Vice-Chair) Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Mr Sigi Langenbahn Federation of Liechtenstein Employees

Norway

Ms Wenche Paulsrud*(Chair until November 2009) Norwegian Confederation of Vocational Unions

Mr Thomas Angell Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises

Ms Liz Helgesen Norwegian Confederation of Unions for Professionals

Mr André Nerheim Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions

Ms Bente Stenberg-Nilsen Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities

Mr Espen Søilen Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise

Switzerland

Mr Jan Atteslander economiesuisse

Ms Ruth Derrer Balladore Swiss Union of Employers

Mr Marco Taddei Swiss Union of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Mr Hans-Peter Tinguely Swiss Workers’ Federation

Mr Pierre Weiss Fédération des Entreprises Romandes Genève

* Wenche Paulsrud passed away on 17 November 2009 after a period of illness.


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EFTA Ministerial Meeting, Hamar, 22 June 2009

Communiqué

The EFTA Ministers signed a Free TradeAgreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC). They welcomed the ratification of the FreeTrade Agreement with Canada and the recentsigning of a Joint Declaration on Cooperation withMauritius. Ministers welcomed the start ofnegotiations with Ukraine, Serbia and Albania.Ministers noted the recent steps taken to prepare fornegotiations of an FTA between the EFTA Statesand Russia, and agreed to assess the feasibility oflaunching such negotiations in the second half of2009. They decided to open free trade negotiationswith Hong Kong and to examine, jointly withVietnam, the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement. The EEA EFTA Ministers welcomed the inclusionof the European Institute of Innovation andTechnology and the Services Directive into theAgreement. They complimented the successfulround-up of commitments under the EEA andNorwegian Financial Mechanisms 2004-2009, andunderlined the importance of finalising the ongoingnegotiations on the future financial contributions assoon as possible.

On 22 June 2009, the European Free Trade Associationheld its Summer Ministerial meeting in Hamar, Norway,chaired by Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Trade andIndustry of Norway. Ministers from the four EFTA States(Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland)together with Sheikh Ghazi Bin Said Al Bahar Al Rawas,on behalf of the Omani Presidency of the MinisterialCouncil of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), andAbdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Secretary-Generalof the GCC, signed the EFTA-GCC Free TradeAgreement. In addition to Oman, the Gulf CooperationCouncil is composed of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The international economic situation

The EFTA Ministers expressed concern over the globaleconomic and financial crisis which has triggered analarming fall in international trade and investment.They also regretted the emergence of trade-restrictivemeasures which have the potential to exacerbate thecrisis and counteract efforts by governments tostimulate economic growth through national as well as

international policies. The Ministers expressed theircommitment to refrain from raising new barriers toinvestment or to trade in goods and services, to refrainfrom imposing new export restrictions, and tominimise any negative impact on trade and investmentof domestic policy actions including fiscal policy andaction in support of the financial sector. They recalledthe critical importance of concluding the Doha Roundand of building upon the WTO acquis to stimulateglobal economic recovery.

Preferential trade relations

The EFTA Ministers acknowledged the goodfunctioning of the EFTA Convention governing traderelations among the four Member States. Theywelcomed the addition of the Free Trade Agreementwith the GCC to the expanding EFTA network ofpreferential trade relations. Covering trade in goods aswell as services and government procurement, the newAgreement will strengthen bilateral trade andinvestment relations with the Middle East. EFTA hasnow concluded 18 FTAs with 27 countries.

Ministers noted with satisfaction that the ratification ofthe FTA with Canada had been completed, paving theway for its entry into force on 1 July 2009. Ministersalso welcomed the signing of a Joint Declaration onCooperation with Mauritius on 9 June 2009.

Ministers commended the latest steps taken towardsfinalising the EFTA-Peru FTA, and expect this to beready for signing in the near future. They alsoexpressed their satisfaction at the progress achievedin the ongoing EFTA-India negotiations on a broad-based FTA, launched in October 2008 and reiteratedtheir willingness to aim for a swift conclusion.Ministers welcomed the start of negotiations withUkraine and Serbia in April and with Albania in May.With Ukraine, the objective is a comprehensiveAgreement covering, inter alia, trade in goods andservices, investment and intellectual property rights.With Serbia and Albania, the focus lies on theliberalisation of trade in goods.

Ministers noted the recent steps taken to prepare fornegotiations of an FTA between the EFTA States andRussia, and agreed to assess the feasibility oflaunching such negotiations in the second half of 2009.Ministers stressed the importance to advance relations


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with important economic partners in South-East Asia.They agreed to open negotiations on a broad-basedFree Trade Agreement with Hong Kong and toestablish a Joint Study Group with Vietnam to examinethe feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement. Ministersrecalled that EFTA has maintained contacts withIndonesia in view of launching free trade negotiationsin the near future. They also welcomed thepreparations for a Joint Declaration on Cooperationwith Malaysia.

In addition, Ministers took note of the situation in thenegotiations with Algeria and stated their readiness toresume talks with Thailand. They exchangedinformation about the status of individual EFTAStates’ bilateral processes with China and Japan.

Ministers welcomed the progress report prepared bythe Ad Hoc Working Group on Trade and Environmentand the interim report from the Ad Hoc Working Groupon Labour Standards in EFTA Free Trade Agreements.The Ministers underlined the importance of theseEFTA Working Groups in order to contribute tointernational developments in these fields.

Relations with the European Union

Ministers underlined the need for coordinated andcomprehensive action to restore the global economy.They stressed the importance of promoting synergy,solidarity and cooperation at European level and thatthe main priorities have to be to strengthen thefinancial system with an appropriate degree ofRegulation, based on the principle of transparency.

The EEA EFTA Ministers reiterated the importance ofthe Climate and Energy Package agreed by the EU inDecember 2008. Ministers welcomed the continuousclose cooperation with the EU in the area of energy andclimate change, especially on the emission tradingscheme, in promoting energy technology and energyefficiency, on the increased use of renewable energyresources and of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Ministers noted with satisfaction the incorporation ofthe following legislative acts into the EEA Agreement:

• European Institute of Innovation and Technology;

• incorporation of a Regulation on access to gastransmission networks;

• incorporation of a Regulation on a general blockexemption for State Aid;

• Consumer Credit Directive;

• establishment of a system for identification andregistration of bovine animals and labelling of beefand beef products;

• European Qualifications Framework;

• Services Directive;

• Pharmaceutical Package.

Ministers welcomed the participation of the EEAEFTA States in EEA relevant EU Programmes. Withmany of the Programmes emphasising creativity andinnovation, the Programmes promote commoninterests towards a more competitive and innovativeEurope and play a significant role in Europe’seconomic recovery. They highlighted in particular theimportance of the European Year of Creativity andInnovation 2009.

Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the EEA EFTAcontributions to the decision shaping process of EEArelevant EC legislation and programmes through theirparticipation in relevant committees, expert groups andagencies and by submitting EEA EFTA Comments. Inthis context, Ministers noted that due to institutionaldevelopments within the EU, special focus should beon how to adapt the decision shaping to these newforms of governance and on ensuring continuedappropriate access of the EEA EFTA States to relevantprogrammes and agencies.

Ministers expressed their satisfaction with thesuccessful round-up of commitments under the EEAand Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2004-2009. Bythe 30 April 2009 deadline, around 1100 projects,programmes and funds had been approved.

On the future of the financial contributions Ministerswelcomed the progress made and underlined theimportance of finalising these negotiations as soon aspossible.

Reappointment of the Secretary-General and theDeputy Secretaries-General

The Ministers confirmed the reappointments of KåreBryn of Norway as Secretary-General and BergdísEllertsdóttir of Iceland and Didier Chambovey ofSwitzerland as Deputy Secretaries-General, for a periodof three years with effect from 1 September 2009.


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EFTA Ministerial meeting, Geneva, 17 December 2009

Communiqué

EFTA Ministers reviewed the state and theperspectives of free trade relations with partnercountries worldwide. They were joined byMladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy andRegional Development, Republic of Serbia, and Sejdi Qerimaj, Ambassador, PermanentRepresentative of the Republic of Albania to theUnited Nations and other internationalorganisations in Geneva, for the signing of theEFTA-Serbia and EFTA-Albania Free TradeAgreements.

Ministers expressed their satisfaction at theconclusion of the negotiations with Peru. Theywelcomed the progress made in ongoingnegotiations with India and Ukraine and lookedforward to the start of negotiating processes withHong Kong and Indonesia. They expressed theirwish to sign a Joint Declaration on Cooperationwith Malaysia and to commence work on a JointFeasibility Study with Vietnam.

On 17 December 2009, the European Free TradeAssociation held a Ministerial meeting in Genevaunder the Chairmanship of Aurelia Frick, Minister ofForeign Affairs of Liechtenstein.

Ministers from the four EFTA Member States,together with, respectively, Mladjan Dinkic, Ministerof Economy and Regional Development of theRepublic of Serbia, and Sejdi Qerimaj, Ambassador

and Permanent Representative of the Republic ofAlbania to the United Nations and other InternationalOrganisations in Geneva, signed two Free TradeAgreements with Serbia and Albania. Theywelcomed the continued strengthening of trade andeconomic relations between the EFTA MemberStates and South-Eastern Europe.

Ministers expressed their satisfaction at theconclusion of the negotiations with Peru and lookedforward to signing this Agreement as soon aspossible. They welcomed the significant progressachieved in the negotiations with Ukraine andexpressed their hope that these could be concluded inthe first half of 2010. Ministers highlighted theadvances made in talks with India and reiterated thepriority attached to these going forward. Ministersalso expressed their wish that the negotiations withAlgeria and Thailand could be resumed at the earliestpossible moment.

Ministers welcomed the start of negotiating processeswith Hong Kong in January and with Indonesia inearly 2010. They looked forward to the signing of aJoint Declaration on Cooperation with Malaysia and tobeginning work on a joint feasibility study withVietnam early next year. Ministers took stock of thelatest developments with regard to Russia and agreedto swiftly finalise preparations with a view tolaunching a negotiating process early in 2010. Basedon recent contacts at Ministerial level, theyfurthermore agreed to propose a Joint Declaration onCooperation to Panama.

Ministers welcomed the significant progress reached inthe Ad Hoc EFTA Working Group on Trade and

Advisory bodies

Ministers held meetings with EFTA’s two advisorybodies which are actively engaged in EFTA’s work: theParliamentary Committee and the ConsultativeCommittee, which represents the social partners in theEFTA countries. They had a fruitful exchange of viewswith committee members on a range of issuesincluding the most recent developments in EFTA thirdcountry relations and the latest developments in theEEA and in Swiss-EU relations.

Ministers attending:

Norway: Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Trade and Industry (Chair)

Iceland: Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs andExternal Trade

Liechtenstein: Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Switzerland: Doris Leuthard, FederalCouncillor, Head of the FederalDepartment of Economic Affairs


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Environment and looked forward to the finalisation of areport in the first quarter of next year. They mandated theAd Hoc Working Group on Labour Standards in EFTAFree Trade Agreements to pursue its work.

Ministers welcomed the first signs of recovery in theglobal economy and expressed guarded optimism for themedium-term outlook. Recalling the significant impact ofthe global financial crisis on trade flows, Ministersemphasised the importance of a robust multilateral tradingsystem to contain protectionist pressures and reaffirmedthe strong commitment of the EFTA States to the WTO.Following on from the recent WTO MinisterialConference in Geneva, they called for a successfulconclusion of the WTO Doha Round and stressed the needfor a productive stock-taking exercise in early 2010.

Ministers also met with EFTA’s ParliamentaryCommittee and had a fruitful exchange of views onrecent developments in EFTA’s third countrypolicies.

Ministers attending:

Liechtenstein: Aurelia Frick, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Iceland: Gylfi Magnússon, Minister ofEconomic Affairs

Norway: Trond Giske, Minister of Trade and Industry

Switzerland: Doris Leuthard, FederalCouncillor, Head of the FederalDepartment of Economic Affairs

1. The 31st meeting of the EEA Council took placein Brussels on 19 May 2009 under thePresidency of First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tomas Pojar of the CzechRepublic. The meeting was attended by ÖssurSkarphéðinsson, Minister of Foreign Affairs ofIceland, by Aurelia Frick, Minister of ForeignAffairs of Liechtenstein and by Jonas GahrStøre, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway,by Members of the Council of the EuropeanUnion and by a Representative of the EuropeanCommission.

2. The EEA Council noted that within theframework of the Political Dialogue, theMinisters discussed Trans-Atlantic relations, theMiddle East and Afghanistan.

3. The EEA Council underlined the need for acoordinated and comprehensive action torestore global growth and to re-establish thebanking industry’s willingness/capacity to lendout money. The EEA Council stressed theimportance of promoting synergy, solidarityand cooperation at European level. Ministersendorsed the goals agreed upon in the G20Summit on 2 April and agreed that one of themain priorities remains to strengthen thefinancial system with the appropriate degree ofRegulation and oversight, based on theprinciple of transparency. They welcomed the

agreement made to increase the IMF funding;to maximise the effectiveness of the measurestaken, the EEA Council encouraged furtherinternational cooperation to enhance theeffectiveness of the IMF and the FinancialStability Board (FSB).

4. The EEA Council welcomed the report of the high-level group on financial supervision in the EU andthe Communication from the Commission onDriving European Recovery, in particular therecommendations, the enhancement of soundRegulation (i.a. credit agencies and remunerationpolicies) and the promotion of integrity in thefinancial markets. The EEA Council furthermoreemphasised the need for an inclusive supervisoryframework.

5. The EEA Council welcomed the annual progressreport approved by the European Council inMarch and looked forward to the post-2010Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment. TheEEA EFTA States are closely following thedevelopments of the Strategy, with a view toparticipating in relevant parts.

6. The EEA Council welcomed the agreementachieved between the Council of the EU and theEuropean Parliament on the Third LiberalisationPackage, aiming for an effective andinterconnected European energy market.

Conclusions of the 31st Meeting of the EEA Council Brussels, 19 May 2009


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7. The EEA Council reiterated the importance of theClimate and Energy Package agreed by the EU inDecember 2008. The EEA Council highlightedthe importance of the Package in contributing toa successful outcome of the United NationsClimate Change Conference in Copenhagen inDecember 2009. The importance of continuousclose cooperation between the EU and the EEAEFTA States in the area of energy and climatechange was underlined, especially the emissiontrading scheme, the promotion of low carbonenergy technologies, energy efficiency, renewableenergy resources as well as carbon capture andstorage (CCS). Relevant parts of the Climate andEnergy Package will be incorporated into the EEAAgreement.

8. The Ministers expressed their satisfaction withthe successful round-up of commitments underthe EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms2004-2009. By the 30 April 2009 deadline,around 1100 projects, programmes and funds hadbeen approved.

9. The Ministers noted the state of the ongoingnegotiations on the future financial contributionsby the EEA EFTA States for the reduction ofeconomic and social disparities in the EEA andunderlined the importance of finalising thesenegotiations as soon as possible in order to allowfor continuity of the Programmes.

10. Furthermore, the Ministers noted that the EuropeanCommission has reached a bilateral agreementwith Iceland and Norway that the quota levels forcertain fish and fishery products shall be reviewed,as laid down in the respective Additional Protocolsto their bilateral Agreements with the EuropeanEconomic Community.

11. The EEA Council noted the ongoing process ofimplementing a customs security element inProtocol 10 of the EEA Agreement, wherebyNorway will be integrated in the security systemof the European Community.

12. The EEA Council noted the Progress Report ofthe EEA Joint Committee and in particular;

• welcomed the participation of the EEA EFTAStates in EEA-relevant EU Programmes. TheProgrammes promote common intereststowards a more competitive and innovative

Europe and play a significant role in Europe’seconomic recovery. The EEA Councilespecially highlighted the importance of theEuropean Year of Creativity and Innovation2009, emphasising creativity and innovation asfundamental pillars for sustainable economicgrowth. The Programmes are co-financed bythe EEA EFTA States;

• noted that an agreement could not be found forEEA EFTA participation in the Institute forGender Equality. The EEA Councilreconfirmed the wish to continue the intensivecooperation between the EU and the EEAEFTA States in the field of gender equality;

• welcomed the good progress made in the tradenegotiations between the European Communityand Iceland in processed agricultural productswithin the framework of Protocol 3 to the EEAAgreement. It equally noted the continuednegotiations between the European Communityand Norway on further liberalisation of trade inagricultural products on the basis of Article 19 ofthe EEA Agreement and looked forward to asuccessful outcome. It further encouraged theEuropean Community and Norway to engageconstructively in a review within the frameworkof Article 2(2) of Protocol 3 to the EEAAgreement;

• noted the commitment of the EEA EFTA Statesto complete the necessary national proceduresregarding the Food Law Package as soon aspossible;

• welcomed the follow-up of the IntegratedMaritime Policy and underlined the importanceof the close involvement of the EEA EFTAStates in further developments, such as theCommunication from the Commission onstrategic goals and recommendations for theEU’s maritime transport policy through 2018,and the Communication and action plan with aview to establishing a European maritimetransport space without barriers;

• welcomed the active involvement of the EEAEFTA States in the relevant parts of the SingleMarket Review;

• reiterated its commitment to the renewedsocial agenda, covering a wide range of areas


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such as employment, health, migration, socialaffairs, education and equality. The EEA EFTAStates will follow closely the proposedDirectives and policy initiatives, within thescope of the EEA Agreement;

• underlined the importance of social innovationto meet social needs during the economic crisis.

13. The EEA Council welcomed the EEA EFTAcontributions to the decision shaping process ofEEA-relevant EC legislation and programmesthrough inter alia their participation in relevantcommittees, expert groups and agencies and bysubmitting EEA EFTA Comments. In particularthe EEA Council.

• took note of the request of the EEA EFTAStates to find a swift solution to the recentproblems regarding the access for EEA EFTAcitizens to work in the Executive Agenciesestablished by the European Commission;

• welcomed the comprehensive comments fromthe EEA EFTA States on the draft ConsumerDirective.

14. The EEA Council held an orientation debate on theFinancial Crisis: Towards a new regulatory regime.

15. The Ministers underlined the importance for theContracting Parties to ascertain that relevantactors throughout the European Economic Arearemain well informed about the EEA Agreement.

16. The EEA Council underlined the importance ofinviting EEA EFTA Ministers to attend relevantinformal EU Ministerial meetings and MinisterialConferences on the basis of EEA EFTAparticipation in the Internal Market. The EEACouncil also recalled the practice of inviting theEEA EFTA States — at the level of officials — topolitical dialogue meetings with relevant Councilworking parties in Troika format and expressed itsappreciation to the incoming Swedish Presidencyfor the continuation of this practice.

17. The EEA Council noted the Resolutions of theEEA Joint Parliamentary Committee adopted atits 32nd meeting in Strasbourg on 26 March 2009on the Annual Report on the Functioning of theEEA Agreement in 2008.

1. The 32nd meeting of the EEA Council took placein Brussels on 16 November 2009 under thePresidency of Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister forForeign Affairs of Norway. The meeting wasattended by Aurelia Frick, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein and ÖssurSkarphéðinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs ofIceland, from the EEA EFTA side, as well as CarlBildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs, representingthe Swedish Presidency of the Council of theEuropean Union, by Members of the Council ofthe European Union and by the Representative ofthe European Commission responsible for EEACouncil matters, from the EU side.

2. The EEA Council noted that within theframework of the Political Dialogue theMinisters discussed Afghanistan, Iran and theMiddle-East.

3. The EEA Council underlined the need forcoordinated and comprehensive action to restoreglobal growth and to rebuild confidence in the

financial markets. It was the Council’s view thatin the current mid- and post-crisis environment,particular focus should be on coordinated actionamong governments with regard to exitstrategies, as soon as the recovery takes hold, forthe medium- and long term sustainability ofpublic finances.

4. The EEA Council stressed the importance ofpromoting synergy, solidarity and cooperation atEuropean level. Ministers endorsed the goalsconcerning an enhanced cooperation on financialmarkets’ issues as agreed upon in the G20Summit on 24-25 September and agreed that thetwo main priorities remain to strengthen financialsupervision and to close existing gaps in theRegulation of financial services, both onEuropean level and world wide. They welcomedthe proposals on the EU side for legislationestablishing a European Systemic Risk Board.They also welcomed the proposals for theEuropean System of Financial Supervisorsconsisting of three new authorities dealing with

Conclusions of the 32nd Meeting of the EEA Council Brussels, 16 November 2009


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the supervision of the securities-, banking- andinsurance sectors. The EEA Council emphasisedthe importance of enhanced cooperationthroughout the EEA on these matters and thepossible invitation of EEA EFTA Member Statesin these new structures as appropriate once theyhad been established. Furthermore, the Ministerswelcomed the EU regulatory initiativesreviewing the measures of regulatory capital forbanks, for alternative investment fund managersand for remuneration in the financial sector.

5. The EEA Council looked forward to the post-2010Lisbon Strategy. The EEA EFTA States are closelyfollowing the developments of the Strategy, with aview to participating in relevant parts.

6. The EEA Council acknowledged the recentpublication of the Third Liberalisation Package,aiming for an effective and interconnectedEuropean energy market.

7. The EEA Council reiterated the importance of theClimate and Energy Package agreed by the EU inDecember 2008 and highlighted the importanceof the Package in contributing to a successfuloutcome of the United Nations Climate ChangeConference in Copenhagen in December 2009.The importance of continuous close cooperationbetween the EU and the EEA EFTA States in thearea of energy and climate change wasunderlined, especially on the emission tradingscheme, the promotion of low carbon energytechnologies, energy efficiency, renewableenergy resources, as well as on carbon captureand storage (CCS). Relevant parts of the Climateand Energy Package would be incorporated intothe EEA Agreement.

8. The EEA Council welcomed the progress madeon the Renewables Directive, which is EEArelevant and should be incorporated into the EEAAgreement according to the procedures providedfor in this Agreement. It noted that the EEAEFTA States already have a high share ofrenewable energy sources.

9. The Ministers expressed their satisfaction withthe increased emphasis on the monitoring ofgrants and the evaluation of results under theEEA and the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms2004-2009, with around 1200 projects, fundsand programmes being implemented.

10. The Ministers welcomed the progress in thenegotiations on the future financial contributionsby the EEA EFTA States for the reduction ofeconomic and social disparities in the EEA, whileregretting the delay, and underlined theimportance of finalising these negotiations assoon as possible in order to allow for continuityof the programmes.

11. Furthermore, the Ministers noted that theEuropean Commission, Iceland and Norwayrespectively have made parallel progress in theirbilateral consultations concerning the review ofthe quota levels for certain fish and fisheryproducts, as laid down in the respectiveAdditional Protocols to their bilateral Agreementswith the European Economic Community.

12. Ministers took note of the application for EUmembership submitted by Iceland in July.

13. The EEA Council welcomed the incorporation ofa customs security element in Protocol 10 to theEEA Agreement, whereby Norway is integratedin the customs security system of the EuropeanCommunity.

14. The EEA Council noted the Progress Report ofthe EEA Joint Committee and in particular:

• welcomed the participation of the EEA EFTAStates in EEA relevant EU Programmes. TheseProgrammes promote common intereststowards a more competitive and innovativeEurope and play a significant role in Europe’seconomic recovery. The EEA Councilespecially highlighted the importance of theEuropean Year for Combating Poverty andSocial Exclusion 2010. The Programmes areco-financed by the EEA EFTA States;

• noted the continued negotiations between theEuropean Community and Norway on furtherliberalisation of trade in agricultural products onthe basis of Article 19 of the EEA Agreementand hoped for a successful outcome. It furtherencouraged the European Community andNorway to engage constructively in the reviewprocess within the framework of Article 2(2) ofProtocol 3 to the EEA Agreement;

• noted the commitment of the EEA EFTAStates to complete the necessary national


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procedures regarding the Food Law Packageas soon as possible;

• noted the EEA relevance of the ConsumerRights Directive and the comprehensivecomments from the EEA EFTA States, whichthe EEA Council had welcomed at its lastmeeting;

• welcomed the continued follow-up of theintegrated maritime policy and underlined theimportance of the close involvement of theEEA EFTA States in further developments,such as the Communication from theCommission on strategic goals andrecommendations for the EU’s maritimetransport policy through 2018, and theCommunication and action plan with a view toestablishing a European maritime transportspace without barriers;

• welcomed the active participation of the EEAEFTA States in the relevant parts of the SingleMarket Review;

• reiterated its commitment to the renewedsocial agenda, covering a wide range of areassuch as employment, health, migration, socialaffairs, education and equality. The EEA EFTAStates will follow closely the proposedDirectives and policy initiatives, within thescope of the EEA Agreement.

• underlined the importance of social innovationto meet social needs during the economic crisis.

15. The EEA Council welcomed the EEA EFTAcontributions to the decision shaping process ofEEA-relevant EC legislation and programmesthrough inter alia their participation in relevant

committees, expert groups and agencies and bysubmitting EEA EFTA Comments.

16. The EEA Council held an orientation debate onclimate change.

17. The Ministers underlined the importance for theContracting Parties to ascertain that relevantactors throughout the European Economic Arearemain well informed about the EEA Agreement.

18. The EEA Council underlined the importance ofinviting EEA EFTA Ministers to attend relevantinformal EU Ministerial meetings andMinisterial Conferences on the basis of EEAEFTA participation in the Internal Market. TheEEA Council also recalled the practice ofinviting the EEA EFTA States — at the level of officials — to political dialogue meetingswith relevant Council Working Parties in Troika format and expressed its appreciation tothe incoming Spanish Presidency for thecontinuation of this practice.

19. The EEA Council noted the Resolutions of theEEA Joint Parliamentary Committee adopted atits 33rd meeting in Trondheim, Norway on 28 October 2009 on the The EEA and theGlobal Financial Crisis and on Labour MarketIssues in the EEA: Posted Workers and the Freedom to Provide Services; and theResolutions of the EEA ConsultativeCommittee adopted at its 17th meeting inBrussels on 26 May 2009, on Green jobs; theimportance of ambitious energy and climatepolicies for economic recovery and renewedgrowth, and on the Baltic Sea Region: the roleof civil society organisations and socialpartners in improving regional cooperation andidentifying a regional strategy.


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49th Annual Report of The European Free Trade Association 2009

News & Politics

Transcript of 49th Annual Report of The European Free Trade Association 2009