EEA Agreement: arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area EEA

The Council's common position on this proposal for a regulation lays down the procedures for applying the provisions of the agreement on the EEA (with the exception of Switzerland, which has not ratified the agreement). This agreement sets up a joint EEA committee with decision-making powers in which the Community can express its position. The precise purpose of this common position is to lay down the procedural rules for deciding what position the Community will take in the committee. The procedure to be followed is determined in accordance with the following criteria: - as a general rule, the Community's position on Community regulations which are simply transposed by the EEA or which only need slight technical adjustment is decided by the Commission; - by way of exception, where changes imply more than just technical adjustment, the Community position is decided by the Council, once it has consulted Parliament. Decisions by the joint committee on possible changes to protocols or annexes to the EEA agreement will be subject, mutatis mutandis, to the same procedure as that applied when the basic agreement was concluded. However, in practice, any amendments to the annexes to the agreement will be decided by the joint committee as soon as the Community has adopted new Community legislation, so that it can be implemented at the same time as the amendments in question (article 102 of the basic agreement).�