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Internal Market

The Four Freedoms and the EEA

The “four freedoms” are the foundation of the European (EEA) Internal Market. The free movement of goods, services, capital and persons encompasses the 27 EU Member States and the three participating EEA EFTA States. The EEA also includes a number of related areas, such as food safety, transport, public procurement, environment and energy. 

In practice, the four freedoms mean that individuals have a right to live, work, study or retire in any EEA country. Consumers benefit from increased competition leading to lower prices, a wider choice of products to buy and higher levels of consumer protection. And businesses are able to trade across borders more easily and cheaply.

The "four freedoms"

The role of ESA

ESA monitors the participating EEA EFTA States in order to ensure that the Internal Market rules have been effectively implemented into domestic law. In this context, ESA broadly performs the same role as the European Commission, and the two bodies work closely together.

The EEA EFTA States are obliged to notify ESA of the measures they adopt to implement directives and to inform ESA of the incorporation of regulations into domestic law, if required. If an EEA EFTA State does not implement EEA rules, or implements such rules incorrectly, ESA may initiate infringement proceedings against the EEA EFTA State concerned. This may ultimately be adjudicated by the EFTA Court. Where ESA has information on any domestic legislation or practices that may not be in compliance with EEA law, it can likewise decide to initiate an investigation.

ESA's cases:

View recent developments in ESA's cases here:

Iceland Liechtenstein Norway

One European market

The EEA Agreement provides a wide range of rights to people throughout the European Economic Area. The EEA Agreement contains rules concerning areas such as health and safety at work, labour law, the equal treatment of men and women, consumer protection, environment and climate change, energy, public procurement, social security, the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, telecommunications, financial services, banking, insurance, and company law. Such common European rules are essential for prosperity, growth, competition and trade. They improve efficiency, raise quality and help cut prices.