Constitutionalization by Association? The Doubtful Case of the European Economic Area

Summary:

This article analyses the development of the European Economic Area (EEA) in relation to the constitutionalization of European Union (EU) law.

The EEA is a special form of association created initially for all the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries which were looking for a way to strengthen their economic ties with the European Union’s (EU) single market without abandoning their sovereignty to the extent of joining the EU to become a Member State.

The article starts with a summary assessment of the operation of EEA law. The following section examines the notion of constitutionalization in order to assess the state of constitutionalization of EEA law. The article analyses various features of EEA law. The fourth section contains depicts the number of constitutional functions present in substantive EEA law which have been transposed from the EU legal context. Followed by the fifth section, which shows the institutional limitations of the EEA.