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2016 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

EEA Main Agreement and Secondary EU Law Incorporated into the Annexes and Protocols

verfasst von : Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen

Erschienen in: The Handbook of EEA Law

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The chapter sets out the structure of the EEA Agreement. It provides an overview over the substantive rules of the main part of the agreement as well as those found in the protocols and annexes. Special attention is paid to the relationship between the main part of the Agreement and secondary EU law incorporated into the annexes and protocols. It is suggested that the relationship between the EEA Main Agreement and its Protocols and Annexes ought to be guided by the EEA’s overarching objective of homogeneity, not by attempts to establish a formal hierarchy of EEA norms. Furthermore, the need to supplement the application of specialised norms found in the protocols and annexes with the general ones of the Main Agreement is explained. Finally, it is demonstrated that the relationship between the main part of the agreement and EEA relevant secondary EU law which has not (yet) been incorporated into the Agreement may prove difficult (and politically sensitive) in cases where the novel secondary law in questions does little more than to define and give concrete expression to the four freedoms or other substantive rights already conferred on individuals by the main part of the EEA Agreement.

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Fußnoten
1
First and foremost in the SCA, but to some extent also in the Agreement between the EFTA States on a Standing Committee.
 
2
Protocol 1 on ‘horizontal adaptations’ is particularly important for any understanding of how the EEA works. This Protocol contains general rules for the adaptation of EU acts which are incorporated into the EEA, so that, for instance, references in an act to the EU Member States shall be understood to include the EFTA States; references to nationals of EU Member States shall be understood to include the nationals of EFTA States etc. This avoids the need to make such adaptations in each decision by the EEA Joint Committee which incorporates an EU legal act into the Agreement.
 
3
Note that some EU legal acts conferring rights on economically inactive individuals were included in the EEA from the very beginning. Three examples highlighted by the EFTA Court Advisory Opinion of 27 June 2014 Case E-26/13 Gunnarsson, published electronically, are Directives 90/356/EEC, 90/366/EEC and 90/364/EEC, which gave rights of residence to employees and self-employed persons who have ceased their occupational activity, to students and to other economically inactive persons, respectively.
 
4
See the Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 158/2007 of 7 December 2007.
 
5
This was the main reason for the UK’s (unsuccessful) attempt to get the ECJ to annul the Council’s decision to accept the incorporation of the Directive into the EEA Agreement, see Judgment of 26 September 2013 Case C-431/11 UK v. Council, published electronically.
 
6
See Chapter 5.6 on the free movement of persons.
 
7
See, for example, Norberg et al. (1992), p. 295 and Haas and Zellweger (1992), pp. 669–689, at p 672.
 
8
See, for example, Schmalenbach (2011), paragraphs 3–4.
 
9
As noted by Norberg et al. (1992), p. 295.
 
10
See, for example, Fenger et al. (2012), pp. 158–159 and 162–163.
 
11
See the original provisions on the EEA Court as they are referred in Opinion 1/91 EEA Agreement (No 1) [1991] I-6079, at pp. 6086 et seq.
 
12
This point is emphasised by Bull (2002), p. 83.
 
13
See, by implication, Case C-368/05 P Polyelectrolyte Producers Group v. Commission and Council [2006] ECR I-130 (summary publication).
 
14
See Norberg et al. (1992), p. 133. The latter point may also be inferred from Article 118 EEA.
 
15
This terminology was adopted in parts of the early literature on the EEA Agreement; see, for example, Azizi (1994), p. 39-XX, at pp. 56 and 68; Thürer (1992), pp. 410 et seq.
 
16
In German literature often referred to as ‘primäres Assoziierungsrecht’ and ‘sekundäres Assoziierungsrecht’, see, for example, Schmalenbach (2011), paragraphs 16–33.
 
17
See the Agreement on the participation of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia in the EEA of 14 October 2003 (OJ No L 130, 29.4.2004, p. 11); the Agreement on the participation of Bulgaria and Romania in the EEA of 25 July 2007 (OJ No L 221, 25.8.2007, p. 15) and the Agreement on the participation of Croatia in the EEA of 11 April 2014.
 
18
See, for example, Gittermann (1998), p. 98; Mech (2007), pp 42–43.
 
19
See the Agreement on the participation of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia in the EEA of 14 October 2003 (OJ No L 130, 29.4.2004, p. 11), Article 1 (2); the Agreement on the participation of Bulgaria and Romania in the EEA of 25 July 2007 (OJ No L 221, 25.8.2007, p. 15), Article 1 (2) and the Agreement on the participation of Croatia in the EEA of 11 April 2014, Article 1 (2).
 
20
The cut-off date is adopted from the Treaty on Croatia’s accession to the EU.
 
21
Case E-6/01 CIBA [2002] EFTA Ct. Rep. 281.
 
22
See the Report for the Hearing in CIBA, cited above, paragraphs 47, 55 and 73 to 74.
 
23
CIBA, cited above, paragraphs 21 to 22.
 
24
CIBA, cited above, paragraph 33.
 
25
Case E-2/11 STX [2012] EFTA Ct. Rep. 4, paragraph 34.
 
26
As the general principles of EEA law has to be seen as ‘an integral part of the EEA Agreement as such’, see, concerning the principle of State liability, Case E-9/97 Sveinbjörnsdóttir [1998] EFTA Ct. Rep. 95. 63. Thus, the reference in STX to the general principles of EEA law is redundant if the reference to the EEA Agreement is to be interpreted as to the whole Agreement.
 
27
The EFTA Court referred, ‘for comparison’, to Case C-105/94 Celestini [1997] ECR I-2971, paragraph 32, and Joined Cases C-90/90 and C-91/90 Neu [1991] ECR I-3617, paragraph 12. In both these cases, the reference to the ECJ is to ‘the provisions of the Treaty and the general principles of Community law’ (emphasis added).
 
28
Case E-7/11 Grund [2012] EFTA Ct. Rep. 188, paragraph 82.
 
29
Case E-9/11 ESA v. Norway [2012] EFTA Ct. Rep. 442, paragraph 72; Case E-3/12 Jonsson [2013] EFTA Ct. Rep. 136, paragraph 57.
 
30
Note that the statement from STX was reiterated in Gunnarsson, cited above, paragraph 82, where the EFTA Court held that as Directive 90/365 and Directive 2004/38 form part of the EEA Agreement, their provisions must, as far as possible, ‘be given an interpretation that renders them consistent with the provisions of the EEA Agreement and general principles of EEA law.’
 
31
See, for example, Fredriksen and Mathisen (2014), pp. 32–33 and Sejersted et al. (2011), p. 232. Bull (2002), pp. 84–85, seems to be of the same opinion.
 
32
See, for example, the Joint Committee’s Decision No 158/2007 of 7 December 2007, incorporating into the Agreement Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, Article 1(1)(d): ‘In Article 24(1) … the words ‘secondary law’ shall read ‘secondary law incorporated in the Agreement’.’
 
33
Note, for the sake of completeness, that in accordance to Article 291(2) TFEU the Council may in some cases also be competent to enact implementing acts. See further on the hierarchy of norm in EU law, for example, Craig and de Búrca (2011), pp. 108 et seq.
 
34
See, in general, Joined Cases E-9/07 and E-10/07 L’Oréal [2008] EFTA Ct. Rep. 259, paragraphs 27 and 31 et seq.
 
35
An example can be based on the ECJ’s judgment in Case C-236/09 Association Belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats [2011] ECR I-773, where the ECJ found Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113 to be incompatible with Articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The principle of homogeneity speaks strongly for the same solution in the EEA setting, regardless of the fact that the Charter has not been incorporated into the EEA Agreement.
 
36
See further on this Fredriksen (2012), pp. 883–885.
 
37
As well as secondary EU law governing the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in the Joint Committee; see Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 of 28 November 1994 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
 
38
CIBA, cited above, paragraph 33.
 
39
See CIBA, cited above, paragraph 33.
 
40
See, for example, Case C-37/92 Vanacker [1993] ECR I-4947, paragraph 9; Case C-324/99 DaimlerChrysler [2001] ECR I-9897, paragraph 32; Case C-322/01 Deutscher Apothekerverband [2003] ECR I-14887, paragraph 64; Case C-463/01 Commission v. Germany [2004] ECR I-11705, paragraph 36 and Case C-216/11 Commission v. France, judgment of 14 March 2013, published electronically), paragraph 27. For an overview over the different forms of harmonisation in the internal market, see Barnard (2013), pp. 656 et seq.
 
41
See, for example, Joined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 Sturgeon [2009] ECR I-10923, paragraph 47.
 
42
Case E-9/11 ESA v. Norway, cited above, paragraph 72; Jonsson, cited above, paragraph 57.
 
43
See, from the ECJ, for example, Case C-385/99 Müller-Fauré and van Riet [2003] ECR I-4509, paragraph 100; Case C-341/05 Laval un Partneri [2007] ECR I-11767, paragraph 60; Case C-347/10 Salemink, judgment of 17 January 2012, published electronically, paragraphs 38 and 39, and Case C-212/11 Jyske Bank Gibraltar, judgment of 25 April 2013, paragraph 39 and, from the EFTA Court, for example, Joined Cases E-11/07 and E-1/08 Rindal and Slinning [2008] EFTA Ct. Rep. 322, paragraph 43; STX, cited above, paragraphs 27 to 31; Case E-12/10 ESA v. Iceland [2011] EFTA Ct. Rep. 117, paragraphs 40 and 45, and Jonsson, cited above, paragraphs 55 and 56.
 
44
As illustrated by the greatly diverging views of the EFTA Court and the Supreme Court of Norway on the interpretation of Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers, see STX, cited above, and the subsequent judgment of the Supreme Court reported in Rt. 2013 p. 258. For an analysis of the different views, see Barnard (2014), pp. 1–28. Note also the subsequent decisions of the ECJ in Case C-522/12 Tevfik Isbir, judgment of 7 November 2013, published electronically, and in Case C-396/13 Sähköalojen ammattiliitto, 12 judgment of February 2015, published electronically.
 
45
See, for example, Case C-315/05 Lidl Italia [2006] ECR I-11181, paragraphs 35 to 47.
 
46
Case C-216/11 Commission v. France, judgment of 14 March 2013, paragraphs 27 to 29, where the ECJ held that Directive 92/12/EEC harmonises exhaustively the way in which the quantity of tobacco products held may be taken into account by the Member States for the purposes of categorisation as commercial possession, even though the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) provides that Member States may lay down guide levels.
 
47
See, for example, Lidl Italia, cited above, paragraph 48.
 
48
See, for example, the Supreme Court of Norway’s judgment in Rt. 2013 p. 258 STX, paragraphs 103 et seq.
 
49
As held by the EFTA Court in Case E-2/12 HOB-vín [2012] EFTA Ct. Rep. 1092, paragraph 125 (concerning the relationship between Directive 2000/13/EC and Article 11 EEA). For a similar assessment concerning the relationship between Directives 64/433/EEC and 89/662/EEC and Article 28 TEC (now: Article 34 TFEU), see Case C-445/06 Danske Slagterier [2009] ECR I-2119, paragraph 23.
 
50
See, for example, Case E-2/10 Kolbeinsson [2009–2010] EFTA Ct. Rep. 234, paragraphs 46 to 49.
 
51
The Norwegian EEA Review Committee suggests otherwise in its final report in NOU 2012:2, pp. 102 to 103, but no attempt is made to substantiate the legal basis for this view.
 
52
See, for example, Conclusions of the 42nd meeting of the EEA Council, Brussels, 19 November 2014 (EEE 1610/14), paragraph 13.
 
53
As recently demonstrated by the EEA EFTA Comments of 24 March 2014 on the European Commission’s proposal for a new Trade Mark Directive (COM(2013) 162 final) and of 13 November 2013 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union (available at http://​www.​efta.​int/​eea/​eea-efta-comments).
 
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Metadaten
Titel
EEA Main Agreement and Secondary EU Law Incorporated into the Annexes and Protocols
verfasst von
Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen
Copyright-Jahr
2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24343-6_5