3. Expanding perspectives

3.1 Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA)

The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) signed on May 2, 1992 and its Adaptation Protocol of March 17, 1993 bind the 15 (now 28) EU member states on the one hand, and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway on the other (table 1 ).

The result is a kind of "second-circle Europe", in which the three states that joined the EEA alongside the EU have agreed to bring their legislation into line with Community law, since the EEA agreement makes most of the regulations and directives adopted by the Community institutions in the...