European Economic Area

The European Economic Area extends the European Union's internal market to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Together with the EU's 27 member states, they form a common area for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital.

The EEA Agreement entered into force in 1994. The three participating non-EU countries adopt relevant internal-market rules while remaining outside several EU policy areas. Switzerland belongs to the European Free Trade Association but is not part of the EEA.

European public-health reports often use the combined label EU/EEA because surveillance systems cover this wider group of countries. The term therefore describes both a legal market area and a common statistical boundary. Readers should not treat EEA as another name for the EU, because its membership and institutional relationship are different.