The European Parliament voted by 570 to 38, with 23 abstentions on Thursday 18 May to pass the report by David Borrelli (EFDD, Italy), approving the multiparty agreement and the protocols to the bilateral agreements between the EU and the three countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – which are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA) on financial contributions towards improving economic and social cohesion within the EEA for the period from 2014 to 2021.
Under the terms of the agreements concluded in July 2015, the three countries will contribute a total of €2.8 million to economic and social cohesion in the EEA over the period. This represents an increase of 11.3% on the contribution for the period from 2009 to 2014. Some of the money will be earmarked for tackling youth unemployment.
Parliament also approved the revised fisheries trade protocols between the EU and Iceland and the EU and Norway which provide new concessions to these two countries for the 2014-2021 period. These concessions essentially constitute a renewal of the concessions that were in place for the period from 2009 to 2014 with a modest increase in the concessions for some tariff lines and/or a renewal of the previous concessions for other tariff lines. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)