As usual, most of the legal acts were in the areas of food and animal feed, where the purpose is to protect people and animals against harmful substances.

A man in a suit at a meeting
Anders Eide is Norway’s Ambassador to the EU and represents Norway at meetings of the EEA Joint Committee in Brussels. Credit: Mission of Norway to the EU.

Legal acts were also incorporated in the areas of finance, statistics, chemicals, and transport, as well as legal acts setting environmental criteria for a range of products such as paint, furniture, shoes, and clothing.

Conclusions from the EEA Council

The EEA Council meeting was held in Brussels on 27 May. Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide met representatives from the European Commission and the EU Presidency, together with the foreign ministers of the other EEA EFTA states.

At the meeting, they discussed developments in EEA cooperation, competitiveness, and green growth in the internal market, as well as broader political issues.

Postal services and civil protection

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein have provided input on the European Commission’s proposal for a uniform EU Delivery Act and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM+).

The EEA Agreement ensures a level playing field

The EEA Agreement ensures that Norwegian companies and citizens have the same conditions of competition and opportunities as companies and citizens from EU member states in the EU internal market.

A prerequisite for Norway’s participation in the internal market is that EU legislation affecting the internal market is continuously incorporated into the EEA Agreement. This takes place through decisions by the EEA Joint Committee, which consist of representatives from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and the EU. The Committee usually meets eight times a year in Brussels. The Mission of Norway to the EU in Brussels represents Norway in the Committee.

EEA-relevant legal acts for which the compliance date in the EU has passed but which have not yet been incorporated into the EEA Agreement constitute the so-called backlog. Following today’s meeting, the backlog has been reduced to 556 legal acts. As Norway is not a member of the EU, there will always be a backlog, but the lower this number is, the sooner a level playing field in the internal marked can be assured.