Central European Free Trade Agreement Information
2003 – Slovenia joined in 1996, Romania in 1997, Bulgaria in 1999 and Croatia in 2003.
2007 – Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia have joined the EU in 2004, followed by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and thus left CEFTA. – Macedonia joined in 2006, followed by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and UNMIK-Kosovo.
The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade agreement between non-EU countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
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Members
As of 1 May 2007, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and UNMIK-Kosovo[2 1].
Former parties are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Their CEFTA membership ended when they joined the EU.
| Parties of agreement | joined | left | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 1992 | 2004 | |
| Hungary | 1992 | 2004 | |
| Czechoslovakia | Czech Republic | 1992 | 2004 |
| Slovakia | 2004 | ||
| Slovenia | 1996 | 2004 | |
| Romania | 1997 | 2007 | |
| Bulgaria | 1999 | 2007 | |
| Croatia | 2003 | — | |
| Macedonia | 2006 | — | |
| Albania | 2007 | — | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2007 | — | |
| Moldova | 2007 | — | |
| Montenegro | 2007 | — | |
| Serbia | 2007 | — | |
| UNMIK-Kosovo | 2007 | — | |
Membership criteria
Former Poznań Declaration criteria:
- World Trade Organisation membership
- European Union Association Agreement with provisions for future full membership
- Free Trade Agreements with the current CEFTA member states
Current criteria since Zagreb meeting in 2005:
- WTO membership or commitment to respect all WTO regulations
- any European Union Association Agreement
- Free Trade Agreements with the current CEFTA member states
Current members
| Flag | State | Accession | Population | Area (km²) | Capital | GDP in millions (PPP)[1] | GDP per capita (PPP)[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 3,619,778 | 28,748 | Tirana | 22,823 | 7,163 | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 4,590,310 | 51,209 | Sarajevo | 29,477 | 7,361 | |
| Croatia | 02003-01-01 1 January 2003 | 4,491,543 | 56,542 | Zagreb | 78,539 | 17,703 | |
| Macedonia | 02006-01-01 1 January 2006 | 2,061,315 | 25,333 | Skopje | 18,902 | 9,170 | |
| Moldova | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 4,324,450 | 33,843 | Chişinău | 10,141 | 2,842 | |
| Montenegro | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 678,177 | 14,026 | Podgorica | 6,439 | 10,286 | |
| Serbia | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 7,400,000 | 88 361 | Belgrade | 80,602 | 10,897 | |
| Kosovo | 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 | 1,804,838 | 10,908 | Pristina | 4,000 | 2,300 |
History
Original agreement
Original CEFTA agreement was signed by Visegrád Group countries, that is by Poland, Hungary and Czech and Slovak republics (at the time parts of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic) on 21 December 1992 in Kraków, Poland. It entered into force since July 1994. Through CEFTA, participating countries hoped to mobilize efforts to integrate Western European institutions and through this, to join European political, economic, security and legal systems, thereby consolidating democracy and free-market economics.
The agreement was amended by the agreements signed on 11 September 1995 in Brno and on 4 July 2003 in Bled.
Slovenia joined CEFTA in 1996, Romania in 1997, Bulgaria in 1999, Croatia in 2003 and Macedonia in 2006.
CEFTA 2006 agreement
All of the parties of the original agreement had now joined the EU and thus left CEFTA. Therefore it was decided to extend CEFTA to cover the rest of the Balkan states, which already had completed a matrix of bilateral free trade agreements in the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. On 6 April 2006, at the South East Europe Prime Ministers Summit in Bucharest, a joint declaration on expansion of CEFTA to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Nations Interim Administration Mission on behalf of Kosovo, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro was adopted.[3] Accession of Ukraine has also been discussed.[4] The new enlarged agreement was initialled on 9 November 2006 in Brussels and was signed on 19 December 2006 at the South East European Prime Ministers Summit in Bucharest.[5] The agreement went into effect on 26 July 2007 for Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova and Montenegro, and on 22 August for Croatia. Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified it on 6 September,[6] while Serbia completed the final legal procedures on 24 September 2007.[7] The agreement aims at establishing a free trade zone in the region by 31 December 2010.
Relations with the EU
All former participating countries had previously signed association agreements with the EU, so in fact CEFTA has served as a preparation for full European Union membership. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia joined the EU on 1 May 2004, with Bulgaria and Romania following suit on 1 January 2007. Croatia does not yet have a date specified, but is in the process of accession negotiations, and is expected to join the EU by 2012. Macedonia und Montenegro are also official candidate countries of the EU.
At the EU's recommendation, the future members prepared for membership by establishing free trade areas. A large proportion of CEFTA foreign trade is with EU countries.
See also
- Economy of Europe
- Enlargement of the European Union
- European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
- Free trade areas in Europe
- Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (including a matrix of bilateral FTAs)
- Visegrád Group
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Kosovo is recognised by 72 of the 192 UN member states.
References
- ^ Data refer to the year 2009. International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, [1]
- ^ Data refer to the year 2009. International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database [2]
- ^ http://www.eciks.org/english/lajme.php?action=total_news&main_id=417
- ^ http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-160543.html
- ^ http://www.euinkosovo.org/upload_press/Central%20European%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement%20initialled.pdf
- ^ http://www.birn.eu.com/en/102/15/4077/
- ^ http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=24&nav_category=94&nav_id=44017
External links
- CEFTA web site
- Original CEFTA Treaty
- Preamble of the CEFTA Agreement Amendment of and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA 2006 Agreement)
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Categories: International organizations of Europe | Trade blocs | Treaties concluded in 2002 | Treaties of the Third Polish Republic | Treaties of Czechoslovakia | Treaties of Slovenia | Treaties of Romania | Treaties of the Republic of Macedonia | Treaties of Moldova | Treaties of Montenegro | Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Treaties of the Czech Republic | Treaties of Slovakia | Treaties of Kosovo | Treaties of the Third Republic of Hungary | Treaties of the Republic of Bulgaria | Treaties of the Republic of Serbia | Treaties of the Republic of Croatia | Treaties of the Republic of Albania
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