The leaders of the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), namely the twenty-eight EU Member States plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, met for the first time on Friday, 22 March in Brussels for the European Summit to mark the 25th anniversary of this economic union.
The EEA brings together 31 States: the 28 EU Member States and three of the four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Member States.
For Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, the EEA “brings us together as equal partners in the internal market, giving access to its four freedoms: of goods, persons, services and capital". The EEA also provides benefits in terms of research funding and environmental protection.
“Today, within the EEA, more than 500 million people are free to move and travel, to do business [...] while enjoying the safest consumer protections”, Tusk said.
The Prime Ministers of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, of Liechtenstein, Adrian Hasler, and of Norway, Erna Solberg, jointly stated: “We want to build a peaceful and economically strong Europe for future generations." The overall balance between rights, obligations and benefits is key to maintaining the integrity of the EEA, they said.
The United Kingdom, which is struggling to find a political solution that would allow it to leave the European Union in an orderly fashion, concluded on Tuesday 19 March, an arrangement to continue trading with Iceland and Norway within the EEA framework in the event of a no-deal Brexit. A month earlier, such a bilateral agreement had been concluded with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)