2. The decisions of the EEA Council are taken by mutual agreement between the Community on the one hand and the EFTA States on the other. The European Economic Area (EEA) agreement is a 1992 agreement that brings together the Member States of the European Union (EU) and three of the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – into an internal market. (The fourth STATE of EFTA, Switzerland, has decided not to join. The aim of the agreement is to strengthen trade and economic relations between countries by removing trade barriers and imposing a level playing field and respect for the same rules. 2. The EEA Joint Committee makes decisions by mutual agreement between the Community on the one hand and the EFTA States, which speak with one voice on the other. If the EEA Joint Committee has not agreed on a solution to such a dispute within six months of the date of the opening of this proceeding or the parties to the dispute have not decided to seek a decision from the European Court of Justice, one part, from 2020, to correct any imbalances, may be three of the four EFTA Member States and the 27 EU Member States. [21] The youngest member state of the European Union, Croatia, concluded the EEA accession negotiations in November 2013[22] and applied the agreement on an interim basis from 12 April 2014 until it was ratified by all EEA Member States. [4] [13] 1.
In the event of incompatibility with the operation of this agreement, the following provisions are prohibited: any agreement between companies, any decision by business associations and concerted practices that could affect the exchanges between the contracting parties and which have the purpose or effect of preventing it; restriction or distortion of competition within the territory covered by this agreement, in particular those for which the initial plan for the EEA, the EFTA Court of Justice or the EFTA Supervisory Authority, as an „EEA tribunal“ (composed of five members of the European Court of Justice and three members of EFTA countries and which should be functionally integrated into the ECJ)[75] and the European Commission should carry out these tasks. However, during the negotiations on the EEA agreement, the European Court of Justice informed the Council of the European Union (Opinion 1/91) that an EEA jurisdiction over EU law, which was part of EEA law, would constitute a treaty violation, and the current regime was therefore developed. Following negotiations on the Authority, the ECJ confirmed its legality in Opinion 1/92. I have the honour of confirming my agreement to the above. The governments of EFTA countries share the view that broader economic cooperation must go hand in hand with progress in the social dimension of integration, which must be achieved in full cooperation with social partners. The EFTA countries want to actively contribute to the development of the social dimension of the European Economic Area. They therefore welcome the strengthening of social cooperation with the Community and its Member States, established as part of this agreement. Recognising the importance of ensuring the fundamental social rights of workers throughout the EEA, these governments support the fundamental principles and rights set out in the Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers of 9 December 1989, recalling the principle of subsidiarity set out in it. They note that the implementation of these rights must take due account of the diversity of national practices, particularly with regard to the role of social partners and collective agreements.