EU set to tighten enforcement toward EEA countries

The European Union is likely to take a stricter approach to enforcing the European Economic Area agreement after Iceland rejected opening membership negotiations, mbl.is reported on Sunday, citing Norway’s NTB news agency.

Halvard Haukeland Fredriksen, a professor at the University of Bergen’s Faculty of Law and a specialist in EU and EEA affairs, said the decision could prompt the EU to demand that EFTA countries comply more fully with the agreement.

He said the EEA agreement would broadly remain in force, but the EU would become stricter in its demands that it be implemented.

“Iceland and Norway both have work to do in these matters,” Fredriksen said.

He identified the accumulation of more than 500 regulations as an ongoing problem. Iceland also faces significant difficulties in incorporating into Icelandic law EU rules that have already been included in the EEA agreement.

“These are clear breaches of the agreement,” Fredriksen said.

He said Iceland’s rejection could lead the EU to stop treating the EFTA countries with restraint, adding that the change would also affect Norway.

“We are, after all, in the same boat as Iceland when it comes to the EEA agreement,” he said.