Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted within the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex XI to the EEA Agreement

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee aims to amend Annex XI (Electronic communication, audiovisual services and information society) to the EEA Agreement in order to incorporate Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market.

Pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, trust services provided by providers established in third countries shall be recognised as legally equivalent to those provided by providers established in the EU where they are recognised under an agreement concluded between the EU and that third country, or with an international organisation.

In order to maintain equal conditions of competition on the extended internal market, it is of importance that trust service providers established in the EFTA States benefit, as far as possible, from the reciprocal treatment granted by third countries to EU undertakings under agreements concluded by the EU – since third countries’ undertakings would thereby automatically be granted access to the EFTA States’ market. The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee therefore proposes the corresponding adaptation.