List of EEA EFTA gender mainstreamed provisions
Published 26 June 2025
The free trade agreement (FTA) contains gender mainstreamed provisions throughout the agreement. For the full text of the FTA and other key documents to help you understand the agreement, see the EEA EFTA collection page.
1. Domestic regulation
1.1 Chapter 3, Article 3.40
Each Party shall ensure that measures relating to authorisation are based on criteria which preclude the competent authorities from exercising their power of assessment in an arbitrary manner.
The criteria referred to in paragraph 1 shall be:
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objective
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transparent
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clear
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impartial
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made public in advance, to the extent practicable
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easily accessible
If a Party adopts or maintains a measure relating to authorisation, it shall ensure that:
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the competent authority concerned processes applications, and reaches and administers its decisions objectively and impartially and in a manner independent of the undue influence of any person carrying out the economic activity for which authorisation is required
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the procedures themselves do not prevent fulfilment of the requirements
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those measures do not discriminate between men and women[footnote 1]
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Differential treatment that is reasonable and objective, and aims to achieve a legitimate purpose, and adoption by the Party of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women, shall not be considered discrimination for the purposes of this subparagraph. ↩