Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 27866, what powers EEA states which are not EU members have to (a) terminate and (b) change the terms of the membership of the EEA of another EEA state which is not a member of the EU.

Anna Soubry

As set out by the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), the contracting parties of the Agreement are the EU, the EU Member States and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Agreement does not set out what powers Contracting Parties have over the termination or change of others’ engagement with the Agreement. The only mention in the Agreement of termination is that each Contracting Party may withdraw from this Agreement provided it gives at least twelve months’ notice in writing to the other Contracting Parties. Meanwhile, the Agreement states that any European State becoming a member of the EU or of the European Free Trade Association may apply to become a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and that the terms and conditions for such participation shall be the subject of an agreement between the Contracting Parties and the applicant State.