Policy shaping in the EEA and the role of the Secretariat EEA - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Policy shaping in the EEA and the role of the Secretariat

EEA Seminar Brussels, 9 - 10 June 2011

Lars E Nordgaard Director, EEA Coordination Division EFTA Secretariat

The EEA – a substantially improved free trade agreement

4.5 % Norway 75 % Norway 0.1 % Liechtenstein 75 % Liechtenstein 0.2 % Iceland 64 % Iceland

EU’s trade with us

(% of all ex-EU trade)

Our trade with EU

(% of all trade)

… but it is also much more

European Economic Area - extending the EU Internal Market

Four Freedoms

• Free movement of goods
• Free movement of services
• Free movement of capital
• Free movement of persons

Horizontal policies

• Environment
• Social policy
• Consumer protection
• Statistics
• Company law

Common Rules

• State aid
• Competition

Cooperation

• EU programmes
• EU agencies

Cohesion

• EEA (and Norway) Grants

The EEA does not cover:

• EU Customs Union and Common Trade Policy
• Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies
• EU Regional Policy
• Economic and Monetary Union
• Justice and Home Affairs
• Common Foreign, Security and Defence Policy

EEA - static and dynamic

• Static in scope

No additional areas foreseen to be included in the Agreement, but the veterinary area was substantially expanded in 1999

• Dynamic in character

Updated continuously by adding new EU legislation in areas already covered by the Agreement

Extending EU law …

8300 EU acts incorporated into the EEA Agreement

• 1849 at the signing (1992)
• 5574 added by the EEA Joint Committee
• 900 added by simplified procedures

~ 5 000 acts in force today in EEA ~ 15 000 acts in force today in EU

EEA COUNCIL EEA JOINT COMMITTEE EEA JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE EEA CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ICELAND LIECHTENSTEIN NORWAY EFTA STANDING COMMITTEE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY EFTA COURT COMMITTEE OF MPs OF THE EFTA STATES EFTA CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE EU PRESIDENCY (TROIKA) + EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUROPEAN COMMISSION + EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

The Two-Pillar EEA Structure

European Commission: right to participate, but not to vote

• EEA Art. 99

Expert groups / EFTA comments

• EEA Art. 100

Comitology committees

• EEA Art 101

Other (advisory) groups

• EEA Art. 81

Programme committees

• EEA decisions

Agency boards

European Parliament: no access, but open process EU Council: no access, but approach informally

Access varies as to who we are approaching

Decision shaping

Decision shaping

Influence varies as to where we are in the process

Commission consults and drafts new legislation Adoption EP and Council discuss COM proposes

The EEA EFTA Standard Sheet

Four questions:

• EEA relevant?
• Technical adaptations

needed?

• Other adaptations?
• Parliamentary

procedures/constitutional requirements?

EFTA Secretariat ...

• Identifies new acts
• Initiate the decision-making process through

the EFTA Standard Sheet

• Drafts EEA EFTA Comments
• Assists the working groups, subcommittees, Standing

Committee, EEA Joint Committee, EEA Council and advisory bodies

• Drafts the EEA Joint Committee Decisions (JCDs)
• Translates JCDs into Icelandic and Norwegian
• Publishes the EEA Supplement
• Keeps the complete EEA Agreement updated

Example:

Food information (labelling)

Jan 2008 EC proposal on food information to consumers Oct 2008 Extensive EEA EFTA Comments issued Sent to the Commission, EP and Council Distributed during bilateral contacts with EU and stakeholders Mar 2009 Norway invited to the Council Working Group to present the EEA EFTA position Dec 2009 Norway invited to the EP Committee Rapporteur Jun 2011 Proposal is still being discussed on the EU side…

More Examples

In EFTA Bulletin 1/2009

• REACH
• Goods Package
• Open Method of Coordination

EFTA Advisory Bodies:

Committees of Members of Parliament

• Scrutinise EFTA policies and EEA legislation
• Raise awareness of important issues
• Build a political consensus
• Advocate for the EEA in the national parliaments
• Facilitate political dialogue

Meet with: EFTA Ministers and Social Partners Representatives from the EEA Council and EEA Joint Committee Members of the European Parliament

EFTA Advisory Bodies:

Consultative Committee

• Shapes and scrutinises EFTA and EEA policies
• A platform for dialogue and consultation

between EFTA social partners and the EFTA authorities

• Raise awareness of important issues

Meets with: EFTA Ministers and Ambassadors EFTA Parliamentarians EU social partners

EEA EFTA Forum of Elected Representatives of Local and Regional Authorities

• Informal body involving elected representatives

from local and regional authorities in EEA matters

• Links with the EU Committee of the Regions
• Raise awareness of issues of relevance for local

and regional authorities

Meets with: EU Committee of the Regions

EU budget 2010: EUR 141.5 billion

Competitive regions** 35% Competitive growth* 10.5% Agriculture and fishery 42% Security & justice 1% Citizenship* 0.5% External aid 5.5% Adm. 5.5% *EEA EFTA adds EUR 265 million to the EU budget **EEA and Norway Grants provide EUR 350 million outside the EU budget to EU beneficiary countries

Challenges for the EEA

• The EEA Agreement is almost 20 years old
• The EU has developed considerably since the early 1990s

– Four treaty reforms: from the EC to the EU – Enlargement from 12 to 27 Member States – The Single Market is “completed” – New policy areas:

• Economic and monetary union
• Justice and home affairs
• Foreign, security and defence policy

New forms of EU governance and the EEA: Institutional aspects

• Growing power of the European Parliament

– The “missing link” in the EEA

• New approaches, tasks and structures in the Commission

– “Evidence based policy making”, agencies

• New forms of interaction between Member States

– European Council, the OMC, regulatory authorities, decentralised networks

New forms of EU governance and the EEA: Policy instruments and architecture

• A more diverse range of policy instruments

– Legislation & benchmarks, targets, guidelines, etc

• Enhanced coherence through horizontal policies

initiatives

– Single Market less prominent and more integrated with other policy areas – Facilitated by successive treaty reforms – The core of the Europe 2020 strategy

Lisbon Treaty and the EEA

• Focus on institutional reforms; substantial changes beyond the EEA

– Lisbon Treaty as such will have limited impact on the EEA

• Merger of the pillars

– (Even more) difficult to assess EEA relevance and ensure participation in policy shaping

• Presidency reforms and the EU’s new diplomatic corps (EEAS)

– Uncertainty about EFTA’s interlocutors on the EU side

• Parliamentary dimension

– EP more important, and possibly also the national parliaments

Europe 2020 and the EEA

• The EU’s overarching economic strategy for the next decade
• Successor of 2000 Lisbon Strategy, but conceptually different

– All EU economic policies & coordination of national economic policies – Partnership between EU institutions and Member States, led by the European Council

• 2020 both more and less relevant for the EEA EFTA States

– Internal Market an instrument of Europe 2020 – Budget and regional policy included, with consequences for programmes – But many areas outside EEA, including trade, EMU and agriculture

• More important and more difficult for the EFTA side in the EEA

Thank you