Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the EEA Joint Committee, concerning the amendment to Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement (Participation of the EEA EFTA States in the Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be adopted on the Union's behalf in the EEA Joint Committee in connection with the envisaged adoption of the Joint Committee Decision concerning an amendment of Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement.

The Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘the EEA Agreement’) guarantees equal rights and obligations within the Internal Market for citizens and economic operators in the EEA. It provides for the inclusion of EU legislation covering the four freedoms throughout the 30 EEA States comprising of EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. In addition, the EEA Agreement covers cooperation in other important areas such as research and development, education, social policy, the environment, consumer protection, tourism and culture, collectively known as “flanking and horizontal” policies. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1994. The European Union together with its Member States is a party to the Agreement.

The EEA Joint Committee is responsible for the management of the EEA Agreement. It is a forum for exchanging views linked to functioning of the EEA Agreement. Its decisions are taken by consensus.  

The EEA Joint Committee is expected to adopt the EEA Joint Committee Decision (‘the envisaged act’) regarding the amendment of Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement.

The purpose of the envisaged act is to incorporate Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector ¹  and Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 ²  into the EEA Agreement.

The envisaged act will become binding on the parties in accordance with Articles 103 and 104 of the EEA Agreement.

The Commission submits the draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee for adoption by the Council as the Union’s position. The position, once adopted, should be presented in the EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible opportunity.

The annexed Decision of the EEA Joint Committee introduces participation rights for the EEA EFTA States in the work of a Union governing body namely the Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, which goes beyond what can be considered mere technical adaptations in the sense of the Council Regulation No 2894/94. The Union position shall therefore be established by the Council.

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but that are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ ³ .

The EEA Joint Committee is a body set up by an agreement, namely the EEA Agreement. The act, which the EEA Joint Committee is called upon to adopt, constitutes an act having legal effects. The envisaged act will be binding under international law in accordance with Articles 103 and 104 of the EEA Agreement.

The envisaged act does not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Agreement. Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU in conjunction with Article 1(3) of Council Regulation No 2894/94 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

The substantive legal basis for a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU in conjunction with Article 1(3) of Council Regulation No 2894/94 depends primarily on the substantive legal basis of the EU legal act to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

If the envisaged act pursues two aims or has two components and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.

The main objective and content of the envisaged act relate to approximation of laws and ensuring functioning of the internal market. Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The legal basis of the proposed decision should be Article 114, in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU and Article 1(3) of Council Regulation No 2894/94 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

As the act of the EEA Joint Committee will amend Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement, it is appropriate to publish it in the Official Journal of the European Union after its adoption.

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the EEA Joint Committee, concerning the amendment to Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement

(Participation of the EEA EFTA States in the Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 of 28 November 1994 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area ⁴ , and in particular Article 1(3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

1. The Agreement on the European Economic Area ⁵ ('the EEA Agreement') entered into force on 1 January 1994. 

2. Pursuant to Article 98 of the EEA Agreement, the EEA Joint Committee established by the EEA Agreement (the 'EEA Joint Committee') may decide to amend, inter alia, Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement Annex I to the EEA Agreement.

3. Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁶  is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

4. Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁷  is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

5. Annex IX and Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement should be amended accordingly.

6. The position of the Union within the EEA Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be adopted on the Union's behalf within the EEA Joint Committee concerning the amendment of Annex IX and Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement shall be based on the draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels,

ANNEX

DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE

amending Annex IX (Financial services) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (“the EEA Agreement”), and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

1. Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector ¹  is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

2. Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 ²  is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

3. Annex IX and Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The following is inserted after point 31nb (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1851) of Annex IX to the EEA Agreement:

31. 32019 R 2088: Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector (OJ L 317, 9.12.2019, p. 1), as amended by:

    0. 32020 R 0852: Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

1.    As regards the EFTA States, the derogations set out in Articles 4(3) and (4) shall apply from the date of entry into force of Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No …/… of [this decision] or a date designated under national law no later than 12 months thereafter.

2. In Article 20, as regards the EFTA States:

   1. in the second paragraph, the words “from 10 March 2021” shall read “from the date of entry into force of Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No …/… of [this decision] or a date designated under national law no later than 12 months thereafter”;

   2. in the third paragraph, the words “from 1 January 2022” shall read “from the date of entry into force of Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No …/… of [this decision] or a date designated under national law no later than 12 months thereafter”.

31. 32020 R 0852: Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13).

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

1. In Article 13(1)(d), the words “Union law” shall be replaced by “the EEA Agreement”.

2. In Article 27(2), as regards the EFTA States, the words “from 1 January 2022” shall read “from the date of entry into force of Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No …/… of [this decision] or a date designated under national law no later than 12 months thereafter”.’

Article 2

The following point is inserted in Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement:

43. Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (Regulation (EU) 2020/852).’

Article 3

The texts of Regulations (EU) 2019/2088 and (EU) 2020/852 in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, shall be authentic.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following the last notification under Article 103(1) of the EEA Agreement ³*.

Article 5

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, […].