Financial Affairs

The representative of the Ministry of Finance at the Icelandic Mission to the EU administers the fields the Ministry is responsible for. Furthermore, he represents the Icelandic government in the Financial Mechanism Committee. The main role of the representative is to;

• ensure the interests of the Icelandic Government in the field of financial affairs, mostly by monitoring and influencing the preparation, implementation and performance of the acquis adopted by the EU and EEA.

To ensure successful progress, the representative must:

• participate in the EFTA working groups and subcommittees.
• attend advisory and expert meetings at the EU Commission.
• intensify the network and communication with officials within the EU, EFTA and ESA.
• monitor the process of specific cases within ESA.
• monitor the court procedure within the EFTA Court in related fields.
• disseminate information on the above topics to the Ministry and other related parties or officials.
• ensure that decisions and opinions of the Icelandic government are submitted to all related organisations and bodies in Brussels.

The main tasks the representative of the Ministry of Finance is responsible for can be divided into the following categories:

• Taxes and other public duties
• Custom matters
• State Aid
• Public Procurement
• Pension matters
• International accounting and auditing standards
• Economy and Treasury Finance
• Interchange of data between administration (IDA)
• EFTA Financial Mechanisms (EEA grants)

The Counsellor for Financial Affairs is:

Leifur Eysteinsson

Tel.: +32 (0)2 238 50 22

Fax: +32 (0)2 230 69 38