Meeting of EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee in Vaduz

6 Nov 2019 - News
On 30 October 2019 the EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee (EEA JPC) convened in Vaduz. The programme did include two presentations by Christian Frommelt. The focus of the first presentation was on the EEA Agreement, its scope, institutions and challenges. Without doubt, the EEA is the most far-reaching association agreement that the EU has ever signed with a non-member state thus far. The EEA is therefore often seen as a benchmark for external differentiated integration. This was confirmed by Frommelt's presentation.

Frommelt drew attention to the wide functional scope of the EEA Agreement as well as its well-elaborated institutional framework. However, the presentation also showed that the exact level of integration provided by the EEA Agreement is difficult to measure and might be lower than it is often stipulated. Moreover, the presentation referred to various challenges that are linked to the complex policy cycle of the EEA and also addressed the question whether homogeneity can ever be fully achieved against the backdrop of the different principles in the EU and EFTA pillar.

In a second presentation Christian Frommelt analysed the challenges of direct democracy and European integration. The presentation also briefly compared the Swiss and Liechtenstein model of direct democracy. Moreover, it described how the compatibility of a popular initiative with EEA law is assessed.

Direct democracy and European integration. Presentation by Christian Frommelt, 30 Oct 2019, Vaduz. 

The EEA Agreement: Scope, Institutions and Challenges. Presentation by Christian Frommelt, 30 Oct 2019, Vaduz. 

Publications related to this topic
Frommelt, Christian (2019): Direct democracy and European integration. Foliensatz einer Präsentation anlässlich des 53rd Meeting of the EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee, 30 October 2019, Vaduz.
Frommelt, Christian (2019): The EEA Agreement: Scope, Institutions and Challenges. Foliensatz einer Präsentation anlässlich des 53rd Meeting of the EEA Joint Parliamentary Comittee, 30 October 2019, Vaduz.