The European Union (EU) has over time developed close relations, typically taking the form of acquis-based association agreements, with the countries in its Western and Eastern neighbourhood. The most far-reaching model of such association is the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA Agreement comprises the EU-27 and the EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and it covers in particular the four freedoms of the internal market and some horizontal and flanking policies. The governance of the EEA is based on an elaborate two-pillar system with the EFTA pillar partially matching the institutions on the EU side. The two pillars are linked through a few joint bodies.

Every year around 550 EU acts are incorporated into the EEA Agreement. How does this takeover work? To what extent can the EEA EFTA States shape these legal acts? And how do the institutional rules of the EEA affect the autonomy of the EEA EFTA states? These questions are the focus of the lecture. It will provide an in-depth insight into the procedures and institutional arrangements of the EEA. It will also draw lessons on the opportunities and limits of external differentiated integration.