European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority

The EFTA Surveillance Authority monitors compliance with the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States which are part of the EEA. The EEA Agreement enables those States to participate in the Internal Market of the European Union.

The Authority operates independently of the EFTA States and seeks to protect the rights of individuals and market participants who find their rights infringed by rules or practices of the EFTA States or companies within those states. The Authority monitors the timely implementation of EEA law (such as directives and regulations) by the EFTA States and may investigate whether national legislation or practices are in line with EEA law. Such an investigation may lead to the launching of formal infringement proceedings against an EFTA State, a three-step procedure which may result in the Authority referring the case to the EFTA Court.

The Authority is based in Brussels (Belgium) with 70 employees of 16 different nationalities, and its working language is English. Enterprises and individuals can, however, address the Authority in any official EEA language.

The original plan for the EEA lacked the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and instead had the European Commission exercising this role. However, during the negotiations for the EEA agreement, the European Court of Justice informed the Council of the European Union by way of letter that they considered that giving the EU institutions powers with respect to non-EU member states would be a violation of the treaties, and therefore the current arrangement was developed instead.

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