Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 172, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 of 28 November 1994 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area^f1, and in particular Article 1(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

Protocol 31 to the Agreement on the European Economic Area^f2 (‘the EEA Agreement’), contains provisions and arrangements concerning cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms,

It is appropriate to extend the cooperation of the Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement to include Regulation (EU) No 912/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 setting up the European GNSS Agency^f3.

Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended in order to allow for this extended cooperation to take place. As regards the participation of Norway, account should also be taken in this regard of the Cooperation Agreement on Satellite Navigation between the European Union and its Member States and the Kingdom of Norway^f4, and in particular its Article 6 on security. Due to economic constraints, the participation of Iceland in the GNSS programmes should be suspended temporarily.

For the EEA Agreement to function well, Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement should be extended to include the Security Accreditation Board for European GNSS systems and the Administrative Board set up by Regulation (EU) No 912/2010, and Protocol 31 should be amended in order to specify the procedures for participation,

The position of the Union in the EEA Joint Committee should be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: