THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 338(1) 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, and in particular Article 1(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1)
The Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘the EEA Agreement’) entered into force on 1 January 1994.
(2)
Pursuant to Article 98 of the EEA Agreement, the EEA Joint Committee may decide to amend, inter alia, Protocol 30 thereto.
(3)
Annex XXI to the EEA Agreement contains specific provisions concerning statistics.
(4)
The EEA statistical programme 2014 to 2017 should be based on Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1383/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and should include those programme elements which are necessary for the description and monitoring of all relevant economic, social and environmental aspects of the European Economic Area.
(5)
The EEA statistical programme 2003 to 2007 is no longer applicable and should consequently be deleted under the EEA Agreement.
(6)
Protocol 30 to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended in order to allow for this extended cooperation to take place from 1 January 2014.
(7)
The position of the Union within the EEA Joint Committee should be based on the attached draft Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: