WORLD TRADE S/C/N/28
10October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4044)
Original: English Council forTrade inServices
JOINT COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND
THEIR MEMBER STATES AND THE KINGDOM OFNORWAY,
THE REPUBLIC OFICELAND AND THE
PRINCIPALITY OFLIECHTENSTEIN
Notification pursuant toArticle V.7(a) ofthe
General Agreement onTrade inServices
Thefollowing joint communication hasbeen received from thedelegations oftheEuropean
Communities andtheir Member States andtheKingdom ofNorway, theRepublic ofIceland andthe
Principality ofLiechtenstein. This joint communication constitutes thenotification oftheAgreement
establishing theEuropean Economic Area ("EEA") concluded between theEuropean Communities and
their Member States, andtheKingdom ofNorway, theRepublic ofIceland andthePrincipality of
Liechtenstein.
_______________
Pursuant toArticle Vparagraph 7(a)oftheGATS, theEuropean Communities andtheir Member
States, theKingdom ofNorway, theRepublic ofIceland andthePrincipality ofLiechtenstein notify
the"Economic Integration Agreement" asinstituted bytheAgreement ontheEuropean Economic Area
concluded between themselves. Theformal notification, made inaccordance with the"guidelines for
notifications under theGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices", asadopted bytheCouncil forTrade
inServices, isattached tothiscommunication.
Tofacilitate theexamination bytheMembers, therelevant provisions ontrade inservices in
thisAgreement have been identified inthenotification. ThefulltextoftheAgreement ontheEuropean
Economic Area where these provisions canbefound, intheir original version, areavailable attheWTO
Secretariat. This agreement ispublished intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities (L1,
Volume 37,3January 1994) andintheProposition No.100(1991-92) totheNorwegian Storting
(Parliament) onconsent toratification (ratified on19November 1992), andintheStjornartidindl (the
Law andMinisterial Gazette ofIceland), C,No.31,20December 1993 andintheLiechtensteinisches
Landesgesetzblatt, No.68/1995 of28April 1995.S/C/N/28
Page2
1. Members notifying :
TheEuropean Communities andtheir Member States (15)
TheKingdom ofNorway,
TheRepublic ofIceland,
ThePrincipality ofLiechtenstein
2. Notification under:
Article Vparagraph 7(a)
3. Date ofentry into force:
1.01.1994
Duration :
Indefinite
4. Agencies responsible forimplementation andenforcement ofthemeasures:
EEA Council, EEA Joint Committee, EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee, EFTA Court, Court
ofJustice oftheEuropean Communities, Court ofFirst Instance oftheEuropean Communities, EFTA
Surveillance Authority, ECCommission, Parties 'legislative, regulatory andjudicial authorities.
5. Description ofthemeasures:
(a) Provisions intheE.E.A. which arerelevant tothescope oftheGATS:
- Part I-Objectives andprinciples: seeArticles 1to7and, inparticular,
Articles 3and4,which oblige theContracting Parties (seeArticle 2(c))to
take allappropriate measures, whether general orparticular, tofulfil the
objectives oftheAgreement andtoprohibit, without prejudice toanyspecial
provisions contained therein, anydiscrimination ongrounds ofnationality;
- PartIII-Free movement ofpersons, services andcapital: seeArticles 28to
30(workers andself-employed persons), 31to35(right ofestablishment), 36
to39(supply ofservices without establishment), 40to45(capital), 47to52
(transport);
- PartIV-Competition andother common rules: seeArticles 53to60(rules
applicable toundertakings), 61to64(state aid), 65(other common rules
concerning procurement andintellectual, industrial andcommercial property);
- PartV-Horizontal provisions relevant tothefour freedoms;
- PartVII-Institutional provisions;
- PartIX-General andfinal provisions.S/C/N/28
Page3
(b) These provisions oftheE.E.A constitute anagreement liberalising trade inservices
between theEuropean Communities andtheir Member States andtheKingdom of
Norway, theRepublic ofIceland andthePrincipality ofLiechtenstein, inthesense of
Article V,paragraph 1,given that:
- itprovides forauniversal sectoral coverage ofallservice activities, subject
only totheexceptions provided forunder Articles 32and33,which arefully
consistent with theexceptions provided forunder Articles I3(b), XIV andXIV
bisoftheGATS;
- itprovides fortheliberalisation oftrade through allmodes ofsupply i.e."cross
border" trade, "consumption abroad", "commercial presence" (with orwithout
movement ofnatural persons) aswell as"movement ofnatural persons" (see
Articles 28,30,31,34,36,37,41,47and48);
- itprovides fortheabsence orelimination ofsubstantially alldiscrimination
through elimination ofexisting discriminatory measures andprohibition ofnew
ormorediscriminatorymeasures(see,interalia,Articles28,31,36,48and50);
- thedegree ofliberalisation oftrade inservices between theCommunity and
itsMember States andtheKingdom ofNorway, theRepublic ofIceland and
thePrincipality ofLiechtenstein goes beyond therequirements anddisciplines
oftheGATS inmany respects. Toachieve fullnational treatment, additional
disciplines andmeans ofliberalisation areforeseen such as:mutual recognition
andapproximation oflaws, behaviour ofmonopolies andexclusive service
providers, restrictive business practices, payments, transfers andfreemovement
ofcapital, right ofestablishment, movement ofnatural persons, etc.
(c) Consideration should alsobegiven, pursuant toArticle Vparagraph 2ofGATS, to
therelationship ofthisagreement tothewider process ofeconomic integration between
theEuropean Communities andtheir Member States andtheKingdom ofNorway, the
Republic ofIceland andthePrincipality ofLiechtenstein, provided forunder theE.E.A..
Economic integration isnotonly taking place inthefield ofservices, butalsoinrespect
oftrade ingoods andintheeconomic relations ingeneral.
6. Members specifically affected, ifany:
None. TheEuropean Communities andtheir Member States, theKingdom ofNorway, the
Republic ofIceland, andthePrincipality ofLiechtenstein have negotiated their Schedule ofSpecific
Commitments andlistofMFN exemptions during theUruguay Round. Theentry intoforce ofthe
E.E.A. didnotimply anymodification oramendment inthese lists. TheE.E.A. aims atfacilitating
trade between theParties. Noprovisions oftheE.E.A aimatraising thelevel ofbarriers oftrade in
services inrespect ofanyMember outside theagreement.
7. The fulltextoftheagreement isavailable from :
- theWTO Secretariat;
- theEuropean Commission;
- theRepublic ofIceland;
- thePrincipality ofLiechtenstein;
- theKingdom ofNorway.