9 March 2019 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General, Editorial, European Union, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time: 57 minutes
© efta.int
The
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional
trade organization and
free trade area consisting of four
European states:
Iceland,
Liechtenstein,
Norway, and
Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the
European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the
European Single Market and are part of the
Schengen Area. They are not, however, party to the
European Union Customs Union. EFTA was historically one of the two dominant western European
trade blocks, but is now much smaller and closely associated with its historical competitor, the
European Union. It was established on 3 May 1960 to serve as an alternative trade bloc for those European states that were unable or unwilling to join the then
European Economic Community (EEC), which subsequently became the European Union. The Stockholm Convention, to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the
Swedish capital by seven countries (known as the “
outer seven“). Whilst the EFTA is not a
customs union and member states have full rights to enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements, it does have a coordinated trade policy. As a result, its member states have jointly concluded
free trade agreements with the EU and a number of other countries. To participate in the EU’s single market, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are parties to the Agreement on a
European Economic Area (EEA), with compliances regulated by the
EFTA Surveillance Authority and the
EFTA Court. Switzerland has a
set of bilateral agreements with the EU instead.
read more…
4 September 2018 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General, Editorial, European Union
Reading Time: 62 minutes
© efta.int
The
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional
trade organization and
free trade area consisting of four
European states:
Iceland,
Liechtenstein,
Norway, and
Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the
European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the
European Single Market and are part of the
Schengen Area. They are not, however, party to the
European Union Customs Union. EFTA was historically one of the two dominant western European
trade blocks, but is now much smaller and closely associated with its historical competitor, the
European Union. It was established on 3 May 1960 to serve as an alternative trade bloc for those European states that were unable or unwilling to join the then
European Economic Community (EEC), which subsequently became the European Union. The Stockholm Convention, to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the
Swedish capital by seven countries (known as the “
outer seven“). Whilst the EFTA is not a
customs union and member states have full rights to enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements, it does have a coordinated trade policy. As a result, its member states have jointly concluded
free trade agreements with the EU and a number of other countries. To participate in the EU’s single market, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are parties to the Agreement on a
European Economic Area (EEA), with compliances regulated by the
EFTA Surveillance Authority and the
EFTA Court. Switzerland has a
set of bilateral agreements with the EU instead.
read more…
