Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken by the European Union in the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the EEA Agreement

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee (annexed to the proposed Council Decision) aims to amend Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the EEA Agreement.

More concretely, this amendment aims to incorporate Regulation (EC) No 764/2008 laying down procedures relating to the application of certain national technical rules to products lawfully marketed in another Member State; Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and Decision No 768/2008/EC on a common framework for the marketing of products.

An adaptation is proposed in relation to Liechtenstein as to the Regulation (EC) No 764/2008. The EEA Joint Committee Decision No 97/2007 exempted Liechtenstein from the application of Annex I, Chapters XII and XXVII of Annex II, and Protocol 47 of the EEA Agreement, for so long as the Agriculture Agreement between the EU and Swiss Confederation applies to Liechtenstein. Therefore Liechtenstein wishes for exemption from the Regulation (EC) No 764/2008 for those products.

In relation to the Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Liechtenstein shall have the possibility to have recourse to the accreditation body of Switzerland for the product sectors covered by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment and in respect of which EU and Swiss requirements are deemed equivalent pursuant to Article 1(2) and (3) of that Agreement.

Moreover, for products not originating in the EEA and exported from Liechtenstein to another EEA State, there may be a need to check products at the border in order to make sure that they are in conformity with EEA legislation, due to Liechtenstein's regional union with Switzerland, where Liechtenstein may have applied Swiss technical regulations and standards.

Concerning Decision No 768/2008/EC, as the Decision refers to future legislation, the proposed text underlines the fact that the EEA relevance of all legal acts are considered individually, and that the incorporation of one act is without prejudice to the incorporation of others.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)208: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:208:FIN

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