the agreement is not such as to give the companies concerned the power to determine the prices of a substantial part of the products concerned in the area covered by the agreement, to control or limit production or marketing, nor to protect them from effective competition between other companies located in the territory covered by the agreement. However, when the EEA was created in 1994, several developments hampered its credibility. First, Switzerland rejected the EEA agreement in a national referendum on 6 December 1992, hampering the full integration of the EU and EFTA into the EEA. In addition, Austria had applied for full membership of the EEC in 1989, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland between 1991 and 1992 (Norway`s accession to the EU was rejected by referendum, with Switzerland rejecting the EU`s request after the EEA agreement was rejected by referendum). The fall of the Iron Curtain has made the EU less reluctant to accept these advanced countries as member states, as it would reduce the pressure on the EU budget if the former socialist countries of Central Europe join. [15] The decisions of the EEA Council are taken by mutual agreement between the Community on the one hand and the EFTA States on the other. However, if, following a risk analysis, the competent customs authority chooses, for further examination, a shipment that may be implicated, a summary declaration of entry or exit or a customs declaration filed by an approved economic operator, it makes the necessary controls as a priority. At the request of the authorised economic operator and subject to agreement with the relevant customs authority, these checks may be carried out in a location other than that of the relevant customs office. The officials of one contracting party may, with the agreement of the other party, be present in the territory of the contracting party for reasons of reflection. Loans for direct or indirect financing of an EC Member State or EFTA State or its regional or local authorities may not be granted or placed in other EC or EFTA Member States unless the States concerned have reached an agreement on this matter. 57.Dr Sverdrup did not believe, for several reasons, that the current EEA countries, which are not at the head of the EU, would «zealously seek to recruit the United Kingdom». First, the extension of the EFTA part of the EEA «has never taken place before.» Before the enlargement of the EU, when some Central and Eastern European countries asked «if they could join the EEA first… EFTA countries have been reluctant to leave it to them.

Second, while the United Kingdom and EFTA countries «share many cultural sentiments and orientations,» there have been some very significant differences «in size, geography and history.» Third, and more importantly, there have been «differences of interest» and «political orientations» in important policy areas such as agriculture. Finally, there would be some reservations about the «functioning of the EEA institutions» if the United Kingdom were to join.73 We note in particular that extending a block of five million people to an additional 65 million people would significantly alter the balance of the non-EU-EEA bloc.74 Although the EFTA Court was considered «autonomous and independent,» Dr. Sverdrup argued that he had «tried to assert this principle quite firmly.» To ensure the «homogeneity» between its own judgments and those of the Court of Justice.107 The Court of Justice`s argument was generally as follows: «What would the European Court of Justice have decided in a case such as this if such a case had been submitted to it?» 108 This approach has meant that, although there is a gap between the EEA agreement and EU law, the EFTA Court of Justice`s policy is to «make decisions of homogeneity»109 In addition to the direct effects of trade agreements with the EU, CAP developments have an indirect impact on Norwegian agriculture and the Norwegian agri-food industry.