EFTA Court: Questions and Answers

The EEA Agreement was signed on 2 May 1992, and it entered into force on 1 January 1994.

There are currently 30 Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement; the 3 EFTA States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, the European Union and its 27 Member States. Switzerland is a member of EFTA but did not join the EEA along with the other EFTA States.

The Court was established to ensure the judicial control of the EEA Agreement in the EEA EFTA States, and its tasks are broadly divided into dispute resolution and interpretation of the EEA Agreement.

The Court came into operation following the entry into force of the EEA Agreement on 1 January 1994; the seat of the Court was initially in Geneva, and since September 1996 it has had its seat in Luxembourg.

The EFTA States chose Luxembourg as the seat of the Court, as it is also the seat of the EU Courts, facilitating cooperation between the courts.

The Court’s premises are in the Hemicycle Building, in Kirchberg, Luxembourg-City.

The official language of the Court is English. In advisory opinion cases, the language of the referring court may be used by the national court when submitting a request for an advisory opinion and by private parties to the case before the national court, i.e. Icelandic, German and Norwegian.

The Court is an independent judicial body established under the so-called Surveillance and Court Agreement (Agreement between the EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice) entered into by the 3 EFTA States.

The budget of the Court is adopted annually by the ESA/Court Committee, which consists of the representatives of the EEA EFTA States, on the basis of a proposal submitted by the Court. The scale of contributions as established by the ESA/Court Committee is currently: Norway 89%, Iceland 9% and Liechtenstein 2%. 

Each EFTA State nominates one judge, and he/she is appointed by common accord of all the EFTA States.

Article 30 of the Surveillance and Court Agreement states that “the judges shall be chosen from persons who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognized competence”.

There are 3 judges.

The Judges elect the President of the EFTA Court from among their number for a term of three years. They may be re-elected. 

In cases where a judge is prevented from acting, an ad-hoc judge is chosen from a list established by the EEA EFTA States.

The Registry is the administrative organ of the Court. Headed by the Registrar, it consists of several staff members dealing with case procedure, budget, press and information, publication, conferences and other events organised by the Court, human resources, logistics, etc.

The Registrar is responsible for all procedural and administrative work of the Court. The Registrar is the director of operations and the head of staff of the Court and represents the Court in external activities such as conferences, seminars, visits, etc. He also hosts groups visiting the Court and gives presentations on the activities and functions of the Court.

There are currently 16 members of staff, plus temporary staff and trainees.

The two main types of cases before the Court are: direct actions and advisory opinions.
Direct actions are initiated with an application lodged directly at the Court by an EFTA State, the EFTA Surveillance Authority or an individual or  economic operator.
Requests for an advisory opinion are submitted to the Court by national courts for the interpretation of EEA Law, and form part of their cases.

Proceedings before the Court are instituted by written application in direct action cases or by a request from a national court of an EEA/EFTA State in advisory opinion cases. The procedure to be followed for the instigation of proceedings before the Court is laid down in the Court’s Statute and Rules of Procedure. Further details can be found in the Court’s Guidance for counsel and Guidance to national courts and tribunals requesting  advisory opinions.

The hearings are public unless the Court, of its own motion or on application by the parties, decides otherwise for serious reasons. Anyone wishing to attend the hearings should register in advance to ensure entry. All oral hearings of the Court and public sittings where judgments are delivered, are live streamed on the Court’s website.

Expenses of the Court are borne by the EEA/EFTA States through the budget of the Court. Proceedings before the Court are free of charge inasmuch as no charges or fees of any kind are, as a rule, payable to the Court.

The Court applies EEA law. As the EEA Agreement extends the EU Single Market to the EEA/EFTA States, EEA law is in most circumstances identical in substance to EU law.

No. The EU Courts (Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court) deal with issues related to the EEA in the EU and the 27 EU States, while the EFTA Court deals with such issues in the 3 EEA/EFTA States. The national courts in the EU and the EFTA States deal with EEA law and refer questions regarding its application and interpretation to the EFTA Court and the Court of Justice of the EU, as appropriate.

In direct action cases, the Court is open to entities other than Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement, if they have legal standing. In other words, individuals and businesses can bring cases before the Court if they fulfil the admissibility criteria. In preliminary reference cases, the case is a ‘dialogue’ with the national court: the national court refers questions concerning EEA law to the EFTA Court, which are then subject to proceedings before the Court.

No. The decisions of the Court are final.

Yes. The Court welcomes visitor groups, who would like to know more about the EFTA Court and the EEA Agreement.

The Court´s website is the best place to start in order to obtain general information.

All cases before the Court are listed on the Court’s website as soon as they are lodged at the Court and are continually updated until a judgment in a case has been delivered. A Notification is published under each case, summarising the subject matter of the case. Written observations in Advisory Opinion cases and a Report for the Hearing in Direct Action cases are published on the website before the oral hearing takes place.

All vacancies are posted on the Court’s website. Questions regarding vacancies posted there may be sent to the Registry. Information about the traineeship programme is also available on the Court’s website.