European Free Trade Association

European Free Trade Association

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April 28, 2023

India alongwith the 4-nation EFTA group have considered restarting discussions for a Free Trade Agreement in order to boost economic connections between the two areas. The salient features are:

• The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an international organisation founded by the Stockholm Convention in 1960.

• Its goal is to promote free trade as well as economic collaboration among its members in Europe and across the world.

• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are the current members of EFTA.

• The EFTA countries have one of the most extensive networks of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

• These free trade agreements (FTAs) cover more than 60 nations and territories, that include the European Union (EU).

• Its goal is to promote free trade as well as economic collaboration among its members in Europe and across the world.

• Unlike the EU, EFTA does not have a customs union.

• This implies that individual EFTA countries are free to set their own Customs Tariffs and other Foreign Trade policies in relation to non-EFTA countries.

• The EFTA Council happens to be the is the organization's uppermost governing unit.

• It usually meets at the ambassadorial level eight times a year and twice a year at the ministerial level. The EFTA Secretariat's headquarters are in Geneva.

• It aids the EFTA Council in managing ties between the four EFTA member states, as well as the negotiation and implementation of EFTA's free trade agreements (FTAs).

•The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) oversees Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway's adherence to European Economic Area (EEA) laws.

• The EFTA Court is situated in Luxembourg and has the jurisdiction and competence to handle internal and external disputes concerning the implementation, application, or interpretation of the EEA Agreement.

• The European Economic Area (EEA) is made up of the Member States of the European Union (EU) and three European Free Trade Association (EFTA) nations (Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland, excluding Switzerland).

Source - Financial Times