Integration Model of the European Economic Area: Symmetric or Asymmetric?

Abstract

Summary Research in this article is focused on the analysis of the character of the European Economic Area. It presents a common market for thirty states from European Union (27) and European Free Trade Association (3) established by the Agreement on the European Economic Area. When regarding the size, EU is the bigger player in this relationship compared to EFTA States. On the other side, regarding the principles of international law, parties are equal to each other. These initial thoughts raised author´s interest to find out, whether this economic integration model is symmetric or asymmetric in its nature, regarding its contracting parties. Article provides an answer to this question as well as an insight on the consequences of such regime.