...and why it matters.

I've been guilty of using 'EEA' and 'EU' interchangeably, most recently when I've been concerning myself with Ireland's rules for immigration. I thought I might educate myself better on the differences and share what I've learned with fellow ex-pats, or those who'd like to be ex-pats someday.
Here's how the UK government defines the difference: The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It allows them to be part of the EU 's single market. Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market - this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.

Got that?

Here's some good stuff to read on the subject, if you're interested:
http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/uk-searches-post-brexit-plan-eea-viable-option/

Currently, the UK is a member of the EU, but has voted to leave -- the "Brexit' move you've no doubt read about in recent weeks.

However, opting out of the EU doesn't mean they're automatically members of the EEA. They'd have to join... and the pundits say they will, as a way to ease the transition. This won't please many of the voters for Brexit, as the EEA allows free travel between member states, which was the crucial issue in voting to leave the EU.

So how does this concern, say, Americans wishing to move to Ireland? Ireland is revising their immigration policy for non-EEA retirees... so if the UK doesn't join the EEA, after leaving the EU, their citizens seeking to retire in Ireland will find them in the same immigration queue as people from the US, Canada, et al. With Ireland suggesting they'll impose a 200 person maximum annual immigration quota, there might be a race each year to grab an available slot.

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