EEA Joint Committee incorporates important public health acts into the EEA Agreement

A total of 52 legal acts were incorporated into the EEA Agreement in the meeting through 33 Joint Committee Decisions. Highlights included three acts in the field of health, including a regulation extending and strengthening the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, a regulation on serious cross-border threats to health, and a regulation reinforcing the European Medicines Agency’s role in crises preparedness management for medicinal products and medical devices. Recent health crises, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, have demonstrated the importance of public health cooperation and coordination between the EEA States. Public health matters are included in Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement, and EEA EFTA experts follow all EU developments in this area closely. 

The meeting was presided over by Norway’s Ambassador and the EFTA Chair, Mr Anders H. Eide. Mr Thomas McClenaghan from the Secretariat-General of the European Commission co-chaired the meeting on behalf of the EU.  

This was the first meeting during Norway’s period as Chair of the Joint Committee and the last one before the summer break. Norway’s priorities as Chair for the second half of 2024 and Iceland’s Chair report for the first half of the year can be found here: 

Report of the Icelandic Chair of the EFTA Standing Committee

Priorities of the Norwegian Chair of the EFTA Standing Committee

The next meeting will take place on 23 September 2024. 

The EEA Joint Committee is responsible for the management of the EEA Agreement, and is a forum in which views are exchanged and decisions taken by consensus to incorporate EU legislation into the EEA Agreement. The Committee comprises the Ambassadors of the EEA EFTA States and representatives of the Secretariat-General of the European Commission. 

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From left to right: Ambassador Kristján Andri Stefánsson, representing Iceland, Ambassador Pascal Schafhauser, representing Liechtenstein, Ambassador Anders H. Eide, representing Norway and chairing the EFTA Standing Committee, EFTA Secretary-General Siri Veseth Meling and EFTA Deputy Secretary-General Andri Lúthersson.