Efta Free Trade Agreements

The competition rules contained in an EFTA free trade agreement aim to ensure that trade liberalization under the free trade agreement is not hampered by business practices that can prevent, restrict or distort competition. They also apply to state-owned enterprises and monopolies. In addition to the EFTA agreement and the free trade agreement with the European Union, Switzerland currently has a network of 30 free trade agreements with 40 partners outside the EU and new agreements are being negotiated. In 1992, EFTA and the EU signed the European Economic Area Agreement in Porto, Portugal. However, the proposal for Switzerland to ratify its participation was rejected in a referendum. (Nevertheless, Switzerland has several bilateral agreements with the EU that allow it to participate in the European single market, Schengen agreements and other programmes).) Thus, with the exception of Switzerland, EFTA members are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA comprises three member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and 28 Member States of the European Union (EU), including Croatia, which applies the agreement provisionally until it is ratified by all EEA countries. [36] [37] It was created on 1 January 1994 as a result of an agreement with the European Community (which had complied with the EU two months earlier). [38] It allows EFTA-EEA states to participate in the EU internal market without being eu membership. They transpose almost all EU internal market legislation, with the exception of agriculture and fisheries legislation.

However, they also contribute to the implementation of new EEA policies and legislation at an early stage as part of a formal decision-making process. One EFTA member, Switzerland, has not joined the EEA, but has a number of bilateral agreements, including a free trade agreement, with the EU. In EFTA countries, openness to trade and access to international markets are the basis of economic growth and general well-being. EFTA states actively apply and promote high standards of sustainable development and inclusion in their trade and external policies. In adopting standard rules on trade and sustainable development in 2010, EFTA ministers recognized the need to strengthen policy coherence at national and international levels in order to harness the potential of a positive contribution of international trade to promote sustainable development. Although EFTA is not a customs union and Member States have the full right to conclude bilateral trade agreements for third countries, it has a coordinated trade policy. [3] As a result, their Member States have concluded free trade agreements with the EU and a number of other countries. [3] To participate in the EU internal market, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are contracting parties to the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement with the rules set by the EFTA Supervisory Authority and the EFTA Court of Justice. Instead, Switzerland has a series of bilateral agreements with the EU.

EFTA strives to become a world open to trade, but is committed to recognizing all dimensions of sustainable development in its free trade agreements, such as environmental, labour and human rights protection. In addition to trade in goods, the new agreements often address other aspects, including the protection of intellectual property rights, trade in services, investment, public procurement and technical regulations.