EEA Council: Ministers discuss the EEA Agreement and the role of the green transition in Europe’s competitiveness

On 28 May, ministers from the EEA EFTA States and the EU gathered for the 58th meeting of the EEA Council, the highest cooperation body under the EEA Agreement.

Key topics discussed were the functioning of the EEA Agreement and the challenges and opportunities linked to the green transition and Europe’s competitiveness.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the EEA Agreement in 2024, the EEA EFTA States and the EU agreed on a joint statement underlining their continued joint commitment to the Agreement and the desire to build an economically strong and resilient Europe for future generations.

Against the backdrop of the anniversary, Ms Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, Foreign Minister of Iceland, underlined the resilience of the Agreement:

“We have faced several joint challenges since 1994, but we have always managed to solve these within the framework of the EEA Agreement. It has remained a solid framework for reliable and rules-based multilateral cooperation in Europe.”

The EEA Council was chaired by Minister Lahbib, representing the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Ms Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, Foreign Minister of Iceland, co-chaired the meeting. The ministers attending on the EEA EFTA side were Mr Espen Barth Eide, Foreign Minister of Norway, and Ms Dominique Hasler, Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein. The EU was represented by Mr Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, and Mr Marko Makovec, Deputy Managing Director at the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The informal political dialogue that preceded the EEA Council centred on three topics: Ukraine, Georgia and the situation in the Middle East.

After the EEA Council meeting, the delegations from the EEA EFTA States, Belgian Presidency and European Commission attended a special anniversary conference celebrating 30 years of EEA cooperation, co-hosted by the EEA EFTA States and Belgium. Mr Enrico Letta, who recently authored a comprehensive report on the future of the Single Market, addressed the conference, as did Ms Rosa Balfour, Director of Carnegie Europe.

The EEA Council meets twice a year at ministerial level and provides the political direction for developing the EEA Agreement. The EEA EFTA States are represented by their respective ministers of foreign or European affairs, while the EU is represented by the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as representatives of the EEAS and the European Commission.