Glossary
EEA
Published 8 November 2026, 22:44
EEA — European Economic Area (in Portuguese, Espaço Económico Europeu, EEE)
An agreement under which the countries of the European Union and three countries outside it — Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — share common rules on the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. It was signed in Porto on 2 May 1992. Austria, Finland and Sweden also signed it as EFTA members, but they later joined the European Union itself, so today the area consists of the 27 EU countries plus those three. What it means in practice: a citizen of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway lives in Portugal with the same rights as an EU citizen, under Lei n.º 37/2006 (Article 1, paragraph 2). They do not apply to AIMA for a residence permit: they register with the câmara municipal where they live and receive a certificate valid for five years (Article 14).
Where you come across it. Laws and benefit conditions, which use the phrase "outside the EU and the EEA"; bank forms, social security rules, job adverts.
In benefit rules, this distinction can be decisive. A citizen of an EEA country counts as living in Portugal as soon as they settle here, whereas a newcomer from a country outside the EU and the EEA receives the single social payment PSU only after a year of living in the country with a valid residence permit (Article 9 of Decree-Law 166/2026). Switzerland is not part of the area: Portuguese law names it separately, right after the EEA, and the rights of Swiss citizens rest on Switzerland's own agreement with the European Union.