2006 Annual Report

Foreword

This Annual Report provides an overview of the work of the Authority and, in particular, the developments in individual cases during 2006. The Authority has maintained its focus on the timely and correct implementation of EEA legislation in the three EEA EFTA States. However, special efforts were made to reduce the number of pending cases, which, at the end of the previous year, stood at almost 700 cases. At the end of 2006, the number of pending cases stood at 644. This ongoing process of reducing case load should allow the Authority to free resources to cope with its surveillance functions more effectively.

The institutional two-pillar structure of the EEA Agreement can lead to situations where the Authority may be required to initiate infringement proceedings and submit a matter to the EFTA Court before the Commission has acted or before legal proceedings on a similar matter have been initiated or have reached the final stage within the EU. Two cases brought before the Court last year illustrate that the Authority is prepared to take on difficult cases of this kind. In the Gaming Machines case, a record number of observations were submitted to the Court by the EU Member States. In another case brought before the Court, concerning concessions for the use of waterfalls in Norway, observations were equally submitted both by EU and EFTA stakeholders. While the Authority is bound by the objective of achieving a homogeneous application of EEA law in close co-operation with the European Commission, the Authority cannot be prevented from pursuing a case against an EEA EFTA State on the basis of an alleged breach of EEA law, just because a similar case has not been brought before the European Court of Justice. The Authority's direct actions before the EFTA Court ensure that important questions of EEA law that arise in EEA EFTA States are rules upon at the European level.

As in previous years, the Authority's tasks have expanded with the entry into force of new or additional EEA legislation, for example relating to aviation security.  In other, more established areas of EEA law, the Authority has continued to adopt important decisions, for example new guidelines on national regional aid in 2006, and regional aid maps for Norway and Iceland for the period 2007 to 2013. It also approved a Norwegian scheme for differentiated social security contributions by employers.

As for the performance of the EEA States in implementing EEA legislation, it can no longer be held that the EEA EFTA States outperform EU Member States, as has often been the case in the past. While the EEA EFTA States have improved their average transposition deficit in 2006, they have moved down the ranks in comparison with the EU Member States.

Bjørn T. Grydeland
President