European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority
3126116
173329354
2007-11-23T19:16:55Z
81.35.101.247
/* Membership */
[[Image:EEA.svg|thumb|250px|{{legend|#008000|Countries under the Surveillance Authority}}
{{legend|#000080|Countries under the [[European Commission]]}}]]
The '''European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority''' performs the [[European Commission]]'s role as "guardian of the treaties" for the countries of the [[European Free Trade Association]]. By this the authority is tasked with ensuring laws and regulations are properly enacted by members, taking them to the [[European Free Trade Association Court]]. The Authority has its headquarters in [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]].
==Establishment==
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 [[Institutions of the European Union|EU institutions]] powers with respect to non-EU member states would be a violation of the [[Treaties of the European Union|treaties]], and therefore the current arrangement was developed instead.
==Membership==
[[Image:EFTA countries.PNG|thumb|225px|
{{legend|#008000|EFTA member states}}
{{legend|#66FF99|Former members, now EU states}}]]
The Authority is composed of a college of three members, one from each country. Unlike the European Commission, the members of the Authority are largely administrative in nature with little political history. The body is appointed for a 4 year [[term]], but the President is selected from among them every 2 years. The current President was appointed in [[2006]].
'''Per Sanderud''' ([[Norway]]):President, with responsibility for [[Foreign policy|External relations]], [[legal]] & executive affairs, [[Public administration|administration]] and [[state aid]]
'''Kurt Jaeger''' ([[Liechtenstein]]): Responsibility for [[Four Freedoms (European Union)|free movement of persons, free movement of services, free movement of capital]], [[intellectual property rights]] and horizontal provisions ([[Natural environment|environment]], [[health]] and [[safety]] at work, [[labour law]], [[equal rights]] for men and women, [[company law]] and [[consumer rights]]).
'''Kristján Andri Stefánsson''' ([[Iceland]]): Responsibility for [[competition]], public undertakings, [[monopolies]], public [[procurement]] and [[Four Freedoms (European Union)|free movement of goods]] ([[veterinary]] and [[phytosanitary]] matters, technical [[regulation]]s, standards, testing & certification, product [[liability]] and [[List of energy resources|energy]]).
Aside from the college, the Authority has a staff of 60. its working language is [[English language|English]] but it communicates with people outside the authority in any EEA language.
==See also==
* [[European Free Trade Area]]
* [[European Free Trade Association]]
* [[European Free Trade Association Court]]
* [[European Economic Area]]
* [[European Union]]
* [[European Commission]]
==External links==
* [http://www.eftasurv.int/ EFTA SA website]
{{EFTA}}
[[Category:European Free Trade Association|Surveillance Authority]]
[[no:EFTAs overvåkningsorgan]]