The ESA, the regulatory agency of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) has formally requested changes to the way Iceland’s state broadcaster is managed. Read the full story

International law specialist at Norway’s Tromso University, Professor Peter Orebech, says that Iceland would actually be breaking EU rules by forcing its tax payers to reimburse the Netherlands and the UK for Icesave debt, which rightfully belongs with the country’s privately funded depositors’ insurance fund. Read the full story

The Icelandic authorities have been given an extended deadline to respond to a letter from the EFTA concerning the Icesave dispute. Read the full story

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) yesterday sent a letter outlining its decision that Iceland is legally bound to insure the minimum deposit guarantee to British and Dutch Icesave account holders. The guarantee is part of Iceland’s EEA (European Economic Area) membership agreement. Read the full story

Olli Rehn, member of the European Commission responsible for enlargement, has stated that Iceland would be a welcome addition to the Union, MBL reported.

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Authorities monitoring European competition announced that they will allow the Norwegian government to provide huge financial support for new technology to capture and store carbon emissions. Plans are afoot to develop a test centre at the StatoilHydro gas plant along Norway’s west coast.

The state will provide 80 per cent of the financing for the project, with StatoilHydro covering the remaining 20 per cent of construction costs. This is in line with Norway’s carbon dioxide National Allocation Plan (NAP), which has the goal of keeping its emissions in compliance with the Kyoto Agreement.

Norway is the third country to have both its credit limit and allocations approved by Brussels. The European Free Trade Association’s monitoring branch, the ESA, had originally voiced concerns over competition violations. But these worries have been erased by a recent announcement from the ESA.

The test centre “has a clear environmental goal. It’s important to develop new technology that can reduce emissions,” ESA President Per Sanderud said at a Brussels press conference.

Norwegian officials were pleased to hear the news. The decision will allow the government to move forward with plans to complete the test centre by 2011. It is hoped that the facility will be able to capture and store carbon emissions at full capacity by 2014.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA), recently agreed to negotiate a trade and investment agreement with India. A joint task force will be established in order to arrange the agreement.

In December 2006 a study group was formed in order to consider a possible agreement between EFTA and India. The group recommended that talks between the two groups proceed and said that both sides would “significantly benefit from a bilateral broad-based trade and investment agreement”.

Kamal Nath, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, announced the formation of the joint task force which will bring together experts from India and EFTA.

Companies in India have recently expressed an interest in deepening their relationship with EFTA companies, partly because of a shared interest in technology. Recent years have seen an increasing amount of bilateral trade between India and EFTA with transactions between 2005 and 2006 amounting to $7.4 billion.

EFTA was founded in 1960 and is comprised of Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Iceland. Member countries attempt to encourage growth and prosperity in their respective countries.

Canadian officials announced at the weekend that a trade agreement between Canada and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) had been signed. The pact will increase commercial ties between Canada and Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

The agreement was signed in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum.

Canada’s Minister for International Trade, David Emerson, released a statement about the agreement: “This Free Trade Agreement will open up opportunities by bringing down trade barriers and by providing Canadian business a foothold in the heart of Europe.”

“Canada enjoys a close economic relationship with the countries of EFTA which are among the wealthiest and most sophisticated economies in the world,” the statement read.

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