Central European Free Trade Agreement

Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Native names Marrëveshja e Tregtisë së Lirë të Evropës Qendrore  (Albanian) Centralnoevropski Sporazum o slobodnoj trgovini  (Bosnian) Srednjoeuropski ugovor o slobodnoj trgovini  (Croatian) Централноевропскиот договор за слободна трговија  (Macedonian) Acordul Central European al Comerțului Liber  (Romanian) Централноевропски уговор о слободној трговини  (Serbian)
Flag
Map of Europe (grey) indicating the members of CEFTA (blue).
Official languages		English
Official languages of contracting states		List Albanian Bosnian Croatian Macedonian Montenegrin Romanian Serbian
Type		Trade agreement
Membership		7 states Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Macedonia Moldova Montenegro Serbia UNMIK (Kosovo)
Leaders
•	Chair-in-Office	UNMIK (Kosovo)
•	Secretary-General	Renata Vitez
Establishment
•	Agreement signed	21 December 1992
Area
•	Total	252,428 km2 97,463 sq mi
Population
•	2012 estimate	21,907,354
•	Density	86.8/km2 224.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2016 IMF estimate
•	Total	$243.5 billion
•	Per capita	$11.225
Currency		6 currencies   ALL  Lek   BAM  Marka   EUR  Euro   MKD  Denar   MDL  Leu   RSD  Dinar
Time zone		CET / EET (UTC+1 / +2)
•	Summer (DST)	CEST / EEST (UTC+2 / +3)

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade agreement between non-EU countries, members of which are now mostly located in Southeastern Europe. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and former Czechoslovakia, CEFTA expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on behalf of the disputed region of Kosovo.

Once a participating country joins the European Union (EU), its CEFTA membership ends. As of 1 July 2013, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on behalf of Kosovo.

Members

As of 1 July 2013, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on behalf of Kosovo.

Former parties are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Their CEFTA memberships ended when they became member states of the European Union (EU).

Parties of agreement		Joined	Left
Poland		1992	2004
Hungary		1992	2004
Czechoslovakia	Czech Republic (1993)	1992	2004
	Slovakia (1993)		2004
Slovenia		1996	2004
Romania		1997	2007
Bulgaria		1999	2007
Croatia		2003	2013
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 Organization 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	Contracting party	Accession	Population	Area (km²)	Capital	GDP in millions (PPP)	GDP per capita (PPP)
	Republic of Albania	2007-01-01	2,787,615	28,748	Tirana	32.800	11,885
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2007-01-01	3,839,265	51,209	Sarajevo	37.966	9,980
	Republic of Macedonia	2006-01-01	2,059,794	25,333	Skopje	28.926	13,955
	Republic of Moldova	2007-01-01	3,559,500	33,843	Chişinău	17.693	4,973
	Montenegro	2007-01-01	621,240	14,026	Podgorica	9.884	15,805
	Republic of Serbia	2007-01-01	7,241,295	88,361	Belgrade	103.673	14,471
	United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on behalf of Kosovo in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244	2007-01-01	1,798,645	10,908	Pristina	17.575	–

History

CEFTA history

CEFTA member states   EU member states 1992 – Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia), Hungary and Poland 2003 – Slovenia joined in 1996, Romania in 1997, Bulgaria in 1999 and Croatia in 2003. 2013 – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, followed by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and Croatia in 2013, and thus left CEFTA. – Macedonia joined in 2006, followed by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia in 2007.

Original agreement

The original CEFTA agreement was signed by the 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 came into force in July 1994. Through CEFTA, participating countries hoped to mobilize efforts to integrate into 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.

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, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro and UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo was adopted. Accession of Ukraine has also been discussed. 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. The agreement went into effect on 26 July 2007 for Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova and Montenegro, on 22 August for Croatia, on 24 October for Serbia, and on 22 November 2007 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the agreement was to establish a free trade zone in the region by 31 December 2010.

After the declaration of independence of Kosovo on 17 February 2008 UNMIK continued to represent Kosovo at all CEFTA meetings. At the end of 2008 Kosovo changed its customs stamps replacing UNMIK with Kosovo. This resulted in a trade blockade from Serbia and Bosnia that do not recognise the Republic of Kosovo. The government in Pristina retaliated by imposing its own blockade on imports from Serbia. This led to clashes at border posts in July 2011.

Relations with the European Union

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 joined the EU on 1 July 2013.

Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are 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
• Free trade areas in Europe
• European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
• Enlargement of the European Union
• Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (includes a matrix of bilateral FTAs)
• Mercosur

Notes and references

Notes

a.

^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

External links

• CEFTA official website
• CEFTA Trade Portal
• Original CEFTA Treaty
• CEFTA 2006 Agreement