Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 50 and 114 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:

The Agreement on the European Economic Area^f2 (‘the EEA Agreement’) entered into force on 1 January 1994.

Pursuant to Article 98 of the EEA Agreement, the EEA Joint Committee may decide to amend, inter alia, Annex XXII (Company law) and Protocol 37 (containing the list provided for in Article 101) to the EEA Agreement.

Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f3 is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

Directive 2014/56/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council^f4 is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

For the EEA Agreement to function well, Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement is to be extended to include the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies set up by Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, and Annex XXII to the EEA Agreement is to be amended in order to specify the procedures for association with this Committee.

Annex XXII and Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended accordingly.

The position of the Union within the EEA Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: