> Furthermore, under the Amsterdam treaty (effective 1999) the EC gained responsibilities for immigration, visas, asylum, and judicial cooperation in civil law

> Furthermore, under the Amsterdam treaty (effective 1999) the EC gained responsibilities for immigration, visas, asylum, and judicial cooperation in civil law (which were transferred from the non-EC part of the EU), and the EEA was not extended to cover those new areas (although some of them apply to the EEA member states through their independent membership of Schengen). Exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. So the EEA is a much closer successor to the EEC than the EC, which has a significantly expanded scope, is.