These rules aim to enable free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital within the European single market, including the freedom to choose residence in any country within this area.

[4] The Agreement is applied provisionally with respect to Croatia—the remaining and most recent EU member state—pending ratification of its accession by all EEA parties.

[2][11] One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not joined the EEA, but has a set of bilateral sectoral agreements with the EU which allow it to participate in the internal market.

Many authors cite the economic downturn at the beginning of the 1980s, and the subsequent adoption by the EEC of the "Europe 1992 agenda", as a primary reason.

Other authors point to the end of the Cold War, which made joining the EEC less politically controversial for neutral countries.

[12] Meanwhile, Jacques Delors, who was President of the European Commission at the time, did not like the idea of the EEC enlarging with more member states, as he feared that it would impede the ability of the Community to complete internal market reform and establish monetary union.

[13][14] On 6 December 1992, Switzerland's voters rejected the ratification of the agreement in a constitutionally mandated referendum,[15] effectively freezing the application for EC membership submitted earlier in the year.

Croatia signed its Treaty of Accession to the EU on 9 December 2011[34] and subsequently lodged their application to the EEA on 13 September 2012.

[35] Negotiations started on 15 March 2013 in Brussels, with the aim of achieving simultaneous accession to both the EU and the EEA on 1 July 2013.

The text was initialled on 20 December 2013, and following its signature in April 2014 the agreement is being provisionally applied pending ratification by Croatia, all EEA states, and the European Union.

[2] There are nine recognised candidates for membership of the European Union: Turkey (since 1999), North Macedonia (2005), Montenegro (2010), Serbia (2012), Albania (2014), Moldova (2022), Ukraine (2022), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2022) and Georgia (2023).

Kosovo (whose independence is not recognised by five EU member states) formally submitted its application for membership in 2022 and is considered a potential candidate by the European Union.

A members bill about joining EEA in 2022 was mostly rejected by the Federal council (government) considering the present treaties better for Switzerland.

The report examined four alternatives to the current situation: 1) a Sectoral Approach with separate agreements with each state covering an entire policy area, 2) a comprehensive, multilateral Framework Association Agreement (FAA) with the three states, 3) EEA membership, and 4) EU membership.

[52] Espen Barth Eide, Støre's successor, responded to the commission's report in late 2012 by questioning whether the microstates have sufficient administrative capabilities to meet the obligations of EEA membership.

However, he stated that Norway was open to the possibility of EFTA membership for the microstates if they decide to submit an application, and that the country had not made a final decision on the matter.

[55] On 18 November 2013, the EU Commission concluded that "the participation of the small-sized countries in the EEA is not judged to be a viable option at present due to the political and institutional reasons", and that Association Agreements were a more feasible mechanism to integrate the microstates into the internal market.

Staying in the EEA, possibly eventually as an EFTA member, was an option suggested by the then Environment Secretary, Michael Gove.

[58] A 2013 research paper presented to the Parliament of the United Kingdom proposed a number of alternatives to EU membership which would continue to allow it access to the EU's internal market, including continued EEA membership as an EFTA member state, or the Swiss model of a number of bilateral treaties covering the provisions of the single market.

In the first meeting since the Brexit vote, EFTA reacted by saying both that it was open to a United Kingdom return and that it had many issues to work through[60] although the Norwegian Government later expressed reservations.

[61] In January 2017, Theresa May, then the British prime minister, announced a 12-point plan of negotiating objectives and confirmed that the government of the United Kingdom would not seek continued permanent membership in the single market.

However they also contribute to and influence the formation of new EEA relevant policies and legislation at an early stage as part of a formal decision-shaping process.

Not being bound by the Common Fisheries Policy is perceived as very important by Norway and Iceland, and a major reason not to join the EU.

Additionally, some choose to take part in EU programmes such as Trans-European Networks and the European Regional Development Fund.

[70] After the EU/EEA enlargement of 2004, there was a tenfold increase in the financial contribution of the EEA States, in particular Norway, to social and economic cohesion in the Internal Market (€1167 million over five years).

[citation needed] The non-EU members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) have agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in the areas of social policy, consumer protection, environment, company law and statistics.