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The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established on May 3, 1960 as an alternative for European states that were not allowed or did not wish to join the European Community (now the European Union). EFTA logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ...
May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ...
1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...
The treaty was signed on January 4, 1960 in Stockholm. Today only Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein remain members of EFTA. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The Stockholm City Hall Stockholm listen is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. ...
In addition, the EFTA States have jointly concluded free trade agreements with a number of countries worldwide.
Membership History
Its original membership was United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal.
Finland became an associate member in 1961 (it later became a full member in 1986), and Iceland joined in 1970. The United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland joined the European Community in 1973, and hence ceased to be EFTA members. Portugal also left EFTA for the European Community in 1986. Liechtenstein joined in 1991 (previously its interests in EFTA had been represented by Switzerland). Finally, Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the European Community in 1995 and hence ceased to be EFTA members. 1961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first upside-down year—i. ...
1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...
1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ...
1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Institutions EFTA has the following institutions: the Secretariat, the EFTA Council, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and the EFTA Court.
EEA Related Institutions The EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA Court regulate the activities of the EFTA members in respect of their obligations in the European Economic Area (EEA). Since Switzerland is not an EEA member, it does not participate in these institutions. The European Economic Area (EEA) came into being on January 1, 1994 following an agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU). ...
The EFTA Surveillance Authority performs the European Commission's role as "guardian of the treaties" for the EFTA countries, while the EFTA Court performs the European Court of Justice's role for those countries. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. ...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is formally known as the Court of Justice of the European Communities, i. ...
The original plan for the EEA lacked the EFTA Court or the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and instead had the European Court of Justice and the European Commission were to exercise those roles. However, during the negotiations for the EEA agreement, the European Court of Justice informed the Council of the European Union by way of letter that they considered that giving the EU institutions powers with respect to non-EU member states would be a violation of the treaties, and therefore the current arrangement was developed instead. The Council of the European Union forms, along with the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union (EU). ...
Locations The EFTA Secretariat is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The EFTA Surveillance Authority has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium (the same location as the headquarters of the European Commission), while the EFTA Court has its headquarters in Luxembourg (the same location as the headquarters of the European Court of Justice). Geneva: the Mont Blanc bridge over the Rhône River and St Peters Cathedral Geneva (French: Genève) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman, but the Genevois are fond of calling it Lac de Genève) empties into the...
Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the de facto capital of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters...
Portugal Fund EFTA also manages the Portugal Fund. The Portugal Fund was established in 1975 when Portugal was still a member of EFTA, to provide funding for the development and reconstruction of Portugal after the end of the fascist dictatorship. When Portugal left EFTA in 1985, the remaining EFTA members decided to nonetheless continue the Portugal Fund, so Portugal would continue to benefit from it. The Fund originally took the form of a low-interest loan from the EFTA member states to Portugal, to the value of 100 million US dollars. Repayment was originally to commence in 1988, but EFTA then decided to postpone the start of repayments until 1998. 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...
1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...
1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
International Conventions EFTA also originated the Hallmarking Convention and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention, both of which are open to non-EFTA states.
Relationship to the European Economic Area The EFTA members, except for Switzerland, are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA). The European Economic Area (EEA) came into being on January 1, 1994 following an agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU). ...
Future EFTA Membership Norwegians have rejected in a vote to join the EU on two occasions, at the time of the first referendum (1972) their historical and geographical neighbours the Danes joined. The second time (1994) the other Nordic countries (Sweden and Finland) except Norway and Iceland joined the EU. A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...
The Nordic countries (Greenland not shown) The Nordic countries is a term used collectively for five countries in Northern Europe. ...
Iceland is not likely to join the EU in the near future as its government's stance on fishery policy differs significantly from that of the EU. Polls have shown, however, that a majority of the public either wants to join the EU or sees no problems with doing so. Political parties that wish to join are also gaining substantial support.
Britain Britain thought it could take advantage of the absence of any common external tariff between EFTA members by importing cheap goods from the Commonwealth and then selling them freely within the EFTA. It was also said that if the EEC and EFTA were to joined forces at the time, "the Common Market would dissolve as a lump of sugar in an English cup of tea". The English noun Commonwealth dates originally from the fifteenth century and in different contexts indicates one of: a nation, state or political unit a state founded on law by agreement of the people for the common good a republic a federated union of constituent states. ...
But Britain soon realized that the EEC was more successful, and that it itself traded more with the EEC than with the EFTA. Moreover, the two pillars of the British power (its "special" relationship with the US, and the Commonwealth) seemed to be weakening. Britain also feared that the Franco-German rapprochement could isolate it from the rest of Europe. That's why Britain applied for the first time for the EEC membership in 1961. The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...
See Also A trade bloc is a large free trade zone or near-free trade zone formed by one or more tax, tariff and trade agreements. ...
External links - Official EFTA site (http://www.efta.int)
- The history of EFTA in detail (http://secretariat.efta.int/Web/EFTAAtAGlance/history/)
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