§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Attorney-General what reports will be published of the proceedings and conclusions of the new EFTA Surveillance Authority; what reports it will make to the EFTA standing committee and to the Council of Ministers of the European Communities, respectively ; where it will sit; and if its meetings will be open to the public.
§ Mr. NeedhamI have been asked to reply.
The EFTA Surveillance Authority will prepare reports and assessments in line with the procedure set out in paragraph 5 of protocol 1 of the European economic area agreement. Reports will be submitted to the EEA joint committee. The EFTA Surveillance Authority will also publish information in line with the procedure set out in paragraph 6 of protocol 1. Information emanating from the EFTA Surveillance Authority will be published in a special EEA section of the Official Journal of the EC. In addition, article 21 of the agreement between the EFTA states on the establishment of a surveillance authority and court of justice provides that the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall annually produce a general report of its activities. 100W This report will be available to the public. The EFTA Surveillance Authority will sit in Brussels. Its meetings will not be open to the public.
§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Attorney-General which publication contains the articles or rules defining the powers and procedures of the EFTA Surveillance Authority and court, respectively; by whom and when the documents were approved; what notice was given by Her Majesty's Government to any public or private body in the United Kingdom of the drafts of such articles; and what status they have in(a) international law or (b) the locus of the court of the European Community in Luxembourg.
§ Mr. NeedhamI have been asked to reply.
Article 108 of the European economic area—EEA—agreement requires the European Free Trade Association states to establish an independent surveillance authority and a court of justice. This obligation has been fulfilled by means of a separate agreement—"Agreement on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice"—signed by EFTA Ministers in Oporto on 2 May 1992, in parallel with the EEA agreement. The agreement has subsequently been adjusted by a protocol, to reflect Switzerland's withdrawal from the EEA, again signed only by the relevant EFTA states, in Brussels on 17 March 1993, in parallel with the protocol adjusting the EEA agreement. The agreement is between the EFTA states. Neither the Community nor any EC member state is a contracting party to the agreement. The agreement is binding on the contracting parties in international law.