Liechtenstein and Norway agree closer cooperation on EEA finances
Liechtenstein and Norway intend to coordinate more closely when adopting new EU regulations for financial services. Both countries are keen to strengthen cooperation across the European Economic Area (EEA) in general, with a particular emphasis on matters relating to the financial sector.
Daniel Risch, Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, and Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, Norwegian Minister of Finance, agreed a strengthened cooperation on January 15. The two representatives of the EEA/EFTA member states are keen to coordinate more closely when it comes to adopting new EU regulations for financial services. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of General Government Affairs and Finance, more than 100 pieces of EU legislation need to be adopted.
«In order to ensure timely application of the regulation across the EEA, thereby ensuring a level playing field for Liechtenstein-based stakeholders, a coordinated approach among the EEA/EFTA states is vital», Risch states. The EEA includes the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Citizens of all 30 EEA member states have the right to make use of the free movement of goods, people, services and capital, which together are known as the «four freedoms».
As the press release explains further, this meeting with the Norwegian Finance Minister, which comes on the back of a summit of the three heads of government in October, is a further step in the direction of «strengthening EEA cohesion as a whole, but also in the financial services sector, which is important for Liechtenstein in particular».
Discussions focused in particular on the new regulations covering markets in crypto assets and green bonds, the package aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing, in addition to the revised versions of the market infrastructure regulation and the European system of financial supervision.
