EWR/EFTA-Staaten in EU-Verwaltungseinrichtungen:
Integration zur Homogenitätswahrung

Christina Neier

The three EEA EFTA States – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – participate, through the Agreement on
the European Economic Area, in the Internal Market of the European Union. In order to achieve homogeneity in the EEA, it is necessary that they also participate in EU administrative bodies such as committees of the Commission or EU agencies. In what is now a long-standing practice, the EU routinely grants them full participation in these bodies, albeit without voting rights. Discussions between the EEA contracting parties only arise when the EU limits the participation of third countries to observer status. The increasing decision-making power of EU agencies leads to greater challenges. For the EEA EFTA States, specific arrangements must be made which take into account both the principle of homogeneity and the two-pillar structure of the EEA Agreement. The solutions found so far oscillate between these two principles, depending on the subject area of the agency and its political importance.