19 February 2020 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General
© montreuxjazzfestival.com
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The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly
Festival de Jazz Montreux and
Festival International de Jazz Montreux ) is a
music festival in
Switzerland , held annually in early July in
Montreux on the
Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second largest annual jazz festival in the world after Canada’s
Montreal International Jazz Festival . The Montreux Jazz Festival was founded in 1967 by
Claude Nobs ,
Géo Voumard and René Langel with considerable help from
Ahmet and
Nesuhi Ertegün of
Atlantic Records . The festival was first held at
Montreux Casino . It lasted for three days and featured almost exclusively jazz artists. The highlights of this era were
Charles Lloyd ,
Miles Davis ,
Keith Jarrett ,
Jack DeJohnette ,
Bill Evans ,
Soft Machine ,
Weather Report ,
The Fourth Way ,
Nina Simone ,
Jan Garbarek , and
Ella Fitzgerald .
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15 January 2020 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General , Hotels
© Sandro Senn/cc-by-sa-3.0
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The Hotel President Wilson is located in
Geneva ,
Switzerland , near the
United Nations building on
Lake Geneva . The hotel is named for the 28th president of the United States,
Woodrow Wilson , in honor of his dedication to the creation of the
League of Nations .
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9 December 2019 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General
© Ivan Babovic/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Château-d’Œx is a
municipality in the
canton of
Vaud in
Switzerland . It is in the district of
Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut . Château-d’Œx is a small village of approximately 3,500 inhabitants in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. In recent years, Château-d’Œx has become increasingly popular among travelers primarily for the village’s incredibly authentic Swiss alpine feel, stunning natural surroundings, and quiet atmosphere.
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6 November 2019 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General , Hotels
© flickr.com – Michelle Walz Eriksson/cc-by-2.0
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The Beau-Rivage Palace is a historical luxury five-star hotel in
Lausanne ,
Switzerland . It is located in
Ouchy , on the shores of
Lake Léman . The hotel opened in 1861 and the current main building was constructed in
Art Nouveau and
neo-baroque style in 1908. It is registered in the
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance . The Beau-Rivage Palace is owned by
Sandoz Family Foundation founders of Sandoz AG, now
Novartis .
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9 March 2019 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: Editorial , European Union , General , UNESCO World Heritage
© efta.int
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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.
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4 September 2018 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: Editorial , European Union , General
© efta.int
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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.
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9 February 2018 | Author/Destination: Around the World / Rund um die Welt | Rubric: General , Sport
Kitesurfing © flickr.com – Christopher Michel/cc-by-2.0
🔊 Listen to this Post Kiteboarding is a
surface water sport combining aspects of
wakeboarding ,
snowboarding ,
windsurfing ,
surfing ,
paragliding ,
skateboarding and
sailing into one
extreme sport . A kiteboarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable
power kite to be propelled across the water on a kiteboard similar to a
wakeboard or a small
surfboard , with or without footstraps or bindings.
Kitesurfing is a style of kiteboarding specific to wave riding, which uses standard surfboards or boards shaped specifically for the purpose. There are different styles of kiteboarding, including freestyle, freeride, downwinders, speed, course racing, wakestyle, jumping and kitesurfing in the waves. In 2012, the number of kitesurfers was estimated by the
World Sailing and
International Kiteboarding Association at 1.5 million persons worldwide.
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19 January 2018 | Author/Destination: Around the World / Rund um die Welt | Rubric: General
© Imalipusram
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an
intergovernmental organization that regulates
international trade . The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the
Marrakesh Agreement , signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. It is the largest international economic organization in the world. The WTO deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating
trade agreements and a
dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the
Uruguay Round (1986–1994).
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5 January 2018 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General , UNESCO World Heritage
Museum International d’Horlogerie © Schwizgebel/cc-by-sa-3.0
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La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the
district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the
canton of Neuchâtel . It is located in the
Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres south of the French border. After
Geneva and
Lausanne , it is the third largest city located completely in the
Romandie , the French-speaking part of the country, with a population of 40,000. In 2009, La Chaux-de-Fonds and
Le Locle , its sister city, have jointly been awarded
UNESCO World Heritage status for their exceptional universal value. It is the tenth Swiss Site to be awarded World Heritage status, joining others such as the
Old City of Bern , the
Rhaetian Railway and the
Abbey and Convent of St. Gallen .
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