On 29 April 2016, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that decisions on lower roaming prices, standardised mobile phone chargers and revised public procurement rules were among those adopted by the EEA Joint Committee on 29 April 2016. In total, 37 decisions were adopted incorporating 64 EU legal acts into the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. The announcement said:
Among the acts incorporated was a directive on the harmonisation of laws relating to radio equipment. The new rules aim to keep pace with the growing number of devices on the market and ensure that they respect essential health and safety requirements. They apply to devices such as mobile phones, car door openers and modems, but exclude radio equipment used for public security and defence activities. The directive states that the compatibility of accessories such as chargers should be an essential requirement for mobile phones that are made available on the market, reducing unnecessary waste and cost.
Also incorporated was a regulation aiming to cut roaming fees within the EEA. This should reduce costs for consumers travelling within Europe. The regulation also guarantees that everyone has the right to access and distribute content and use and provide applications and services, irrespective of their location and of the origin or destination of the service.
Three directives, which together represent a major overhaul of public procurement law, were also incorporated. This new set of rules simplifies public procurement procedures and allows for more flexibility, which in turn should open up the public procurement market in the EEA. Cutting red tape to facilitate the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises is an important objective, for example by paving the way for the digitalisation of public procurement. The directives also recognise that public procurement is a legitimate instrument for policy strategies, enabling national authorities to implement societal and environmental policies.
So far this year 102 decisions have been adopted by the EEA Joint Committee and 180 legal acts have been incorporated into the EEA Agreement.
