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International Organisations The European Court of Human Rights is part of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe has a Parliamentary Assembly. Please note that these are not EU bodies as they have a wider pan-European membership. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), based in Paris, is referred to for its expertise on economic and statistical problems. The European Free Trade Area, comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein, is a partner of the EU within the framework of the European Economic Area (EEA).
The Schengen Convention The objective of creating an area of freedom and security was achieved for the first time on 19 March 1995 by seven member states (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) under the Schengen Convention. Extended to all the member states, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, this convention and its implementing provisions were incorporated into the framework of the European Union when the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force (1 May, 1999). There is an overview of the Schengen system on the European Commission's website.
European Economic Area (EEA) The EAA associates the EU to three of the four EFTA countries: Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The European Commission's website gives an overview of the EEA, within which there is free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. EEA Citizens have the right to move freely throughout the area, to live, work, set up business, invest or buy real estate, with a number of limitations in certain sectors. Switzerland is a member of EFTA but not the EEA; it has, however, approved on 21 May 2000 a set of bilateral agreements, including one which relates to the free of movement of persons.
Beyond Europe Other regional
organisations exist around the world, such as: World affairs have their forum at the United Nations. The description of the complex UN system goes beyond the scope of this page, please refer to the "official web site locator for the United Nations system of organizations".
Updated April 27th, 2004 |