Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement, on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms - Draft common position of the Community -

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement contains specific provisions on the cooperation between the Community and the EEA EFTA States outside the four freedoms.

2. The attached draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee aims to modify Protocol 31 to extend cooperation to include co-operation in the implementation and development of the Internal Market. It thus provides the legal basis for the EEA EFTA States to participate in the Community actions related to the following budget-lines of the general EU 2004 budget:

- Budget line 12.01.04.01 "Implementation and development of the internal market- Expenditure on administrative management"

- Budget line 12.02.01 "Implementation and development of the internal market"

3. Article 1.3(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establish the Community position for such Decisions on a proposal from the Commission.

4. The draft decision of the EEA Joint Committee is submitted for the approval of the Council, after which the Commission will put forward the position of the Community in the EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible occasion.

Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement, on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', and in particular Articles 86 and 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Protocol 31 to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No .../... of ... [1].

[1] OJ L ...

(2) It is appropriate to extend the cooperation of the Contracting Parties to the Agreement to include cooperation in the implementation and development of the Internal Market.

(3) Protocol 31 to the Agreement should therefore be amended in order to allow for this extended cooperation to take place with effect from 1 January 2004,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Article 7 (Enterprise, entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises) of Protocol 31 to the Agreement shall be amended as follows:

1. The following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph 5:

'6. The EFTA States shall, as from 1 January 2004, participate in the Community actions related to the following budget line, entered in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2004:

- Budget line 12.01.04.01: "Implementation and development of the internal market - Expenditure on administrative management".

- Budget line 12.02.01: "Implementation and development of the internal market".'

2. The words "paragraph 5" in paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be replaced by "paragraphs 5 and 6".

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following the last notification to the EEA Joint Committee under Article 103(1) of the Agreement [2].

[2] [No constitutional requirements indicated.] [Constitutional requirements indicated.]

It shall apply from 1 January 2004.

Article 3

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, .

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President

The Secretaries

to the EEA Joint Committee