The Joint Parliamentary Committee of the European Economic Area (EEA) is a forum comprising members of the national parliaments of the EEA/EFTA States, i.e. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and members of the European Parliament. It contributes to a better understanding between the European Union (EU) and the EFTA States in the areas covered by the 1992 EEA Agreement. Switzerland has observer status on this committee, on which the Federal Assembly is represented by its EFTA/EU Delegation.
In addition to the functioning of the EEA agreement, the discussions at this meeting will focus primarily on the European defence industry and on the question of Europe's competitiveness. In this context, the future priorities of the EEA and Norway Grants, whose aim is to reduce socio-economic disparities within the EEA, will form part of the discussions. A section will also be devoted to the current state of relations between Switzerland and the European Union, and the Swiss delegation will be invited to address the Parliamentary Committee on this subject.
Switzerland is a member of EFTA but not of the EEA. Observer status enables the Swiss delegation to keep a close eye on developments within the EEA and to take part in debates that are important to Switzerland on foreign and economic policy issues in Europe.
During the visit, the EFTA/EU delegation will be represented by its chairman, Thomas Aeschi, member of the National Council (SVP, ZG), its vice-chairman, Damian Müller, member of the Council of States (FDP, LU) and National Council members Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP, ZH) and Nicolas Walder (Green Party, GE).