ABSTRACT
The institutional set-up of the European Economic Area (EEA) can best be described as a two-pillar structure with the institutions of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) matching those on the European’s Union (EU) side. However, through the process of incorporating new EU acts into the EEA Agreement a multitude of ad hoc rules for EEA decision-making and surveillance has been added to the EEA’s two-pillar structure. This chapter examines why the EU and the EFTA states agreed on the EEA’s institutional architecture, how this architecture has developed over time and how efficient and inclusive it has been. It highlights the ambiguity and complexity of the EEA’s level of centralization and the persistence of different policy-specific modes of governance that range from strictly intergovernmental cooperation to subordination to supranational EU bodies. In this vein, it shows the continuous challenges that non-member states face in order to find institutional arrangements for an effective, privileged partnership with the EU.
