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The European free-trade association, Abk. EFTA (for English European Free trade Association) is a foreign trade zone in Europe.
It was created on 4 January 1960 by the Stockholm convention and stepped at the 3. May 1960 into force. Objective was the promotion of growth and prosperity of their member states and the recess of the trade and economic co-operation between the Western European countries like also the world altogether. At the same time it should form a counterweight to the European communities and their political goals.
The initial members the EFTA were Denmark, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the united kingdom. Followed Finland (associated member 1961, full member 1986), Iceland (1970) and Liechtenstein (1991).
After the change of Denmark and the united kingdom (1973), Portugal (1986), Finland, Austria and Sweden (1995) to the European union those covers EFTA today only four countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. With exception of Switzerland these countries as well as the members of the European union form the European marketing area (EWR).
The following institutions for EFTA exist:
The establishment the EFTA is to be understood as reaction to the establishment of the European communities and stands since its establishment 1960 until today in the close relationship with the development of the European communities to the today's European Union.
The Second World War with its destructive Kraft had brought the realization in the western world that political isolation and protectionism made a reconstruction in peaceful impossible with one another. Already to the 1944 held conference of Bretton Woods apart from the elaboration of a world monetary system for the post-war period the concept of a world-wide trading organisation (international trade Organization, ITO) one had therefore compiled, which should cover all countries of the western world. The ITO was realized never, it formed however the basis for the hole agreement 1948, the forerunner the today's World Trade Organization.
The USA made 1947 in the context of the European Recovery Program (ERP, Mars resounding plan) to 13 available billion US-$ to the reconstruction, whereby the European countries should be merged into the decision-making process over the use of the made available means. For this purpose 1948 the Organization was created for European Economic CO operation (OEEC), in order to coordinate the distribution of the US assistance and the list of European plans of reconstruction and on the liberalisation of handels and payment stream work. The OEEC was transferred for its part 1961 into the Organization for of Economic CO operation and development (OECD).
During the establishment of the OEEC an arising splitting of Western Europe into two camps showed up for the first time: The continental stated by France was endeavored to establish in favor of an accelerated agreement process national authority transferred to European level too and the OEEC as supranational organization. The British and Scandinavian functionalists rejected however each attenuation of the own sovereignty, wanted only a co-operation of the national governments to permit. They could implement their conceptions to a large extent with the establishment of the OEEC.
In order to secure the peace in Europe durably, in particular a completion of the historical rivalry between France and Germany was judged as necessary. After a plan of the French minister of foreign affairs Robert Schuman by Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries 1951 the European community for coal and steel (EGKS) was created, Coal and Steel Community), a customs union in the Montanbereich under control of one as far as possible sovereigns High Authority.
1955 were already decided to expand and supplement by an extensive coordination of the agrarian and atomic politics existing co-operation on all ranges of the industriellen production. With the signing of the Roman contracts the six created the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Economic Community (EEC) to 1 January 1958.
The united kingdom was interested due to its world-wide interests and its close economical connections to the Commonwealth not in the implementation of a closed economic zone and remained with the establishment of the European communities first just as outside forwards as Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, which could not be received due to their neutrality such extensive political obligations. The plan for the creation of a OEEC far foreign trade zone under keeping of national customs tariffs and own foreign trade policies, submitted by Great Britain, failed however in December 1958 in the Maudling negotiations in such a way specified . Great Britain wanted to attract members of the communities, around whose meaning to weaken which did not succeed however by the establishment of this foreign trade zone also.
Instead 1959 negotiations became the realization of a substitute solution, the creation of a small foreign trade zone of seven countries -- Denmark, Great Britain, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland -- taken up. These flowed to the establishment document the EFTA after only six months into the Stockholm convention. It describes the goals the EFTA and specifies the rights and obligations of the member states. The Stockholm convention was signed on 4 January 1960 and stepped at the 3. May 1960 into force. The first lowering of customs duties planned in the contract took place to 1 July 1960. The EFTA convention applied also to Liechtenstein, which was connected by a customs union with Switzerland. Starting from June 1961 also Finland was included by an association agreement into the territorial range of application the EFTA also.
The EFTA was from the outset planned as temporary organization, in order to facilitate by bundling of the common interests an approximation to the EEC and the creation of a free defined in the preamble as a primary goal to carry out all OEEC countries of comprehensive market. In the meantime a dismantling of the customs barriers should facilitate the free trade between the members and promote the free world trade in the sense of the hole agreement. Article 2 of the Stockholm convention demands concretely
Differently as the EEC, which regarded the economic integration essentially than an intermediate step for political integration desired, those wanted to receive the full political freedom of action to EFTA their member states; a substantial characteristic for it was the renouncement of common external tariffs. Due to substantial structural differences also agriculture and fishery were not referred, in addition from a harmonization of the national tax and social systems one refrained. Contrary to on unlimited time the EEC contracts put on the EFTA agreement defines also the right to withdraw after term of notice of twelve month from the association.
In accordance with EFTA philosophy to work against the emergence of supranational authority the necessary institutions with a minimum of organization overhead should remain as flexible as possible. As only decision organ the EFTA advice was therefore created that met regularly on Minister or official level and whom political guidance the EFTA educated. The EFTA advice could seize resolutions at the same time and supervise their conversion.
However the European Court of Justice a comparable Court of Justice, the EFTA-GH exists in Luxembourg.
Into the support of the advice working groups and committees could be called up depending upon need. A privileged position took here the Konsultativkomitee, which consisted of prominent, politically independent personalities from most diverse ranges of the economy of all member states and by the advice simplified a perception of the public opinion.
Further at the seat the EFTA in Geneva a constant EFTA secretariat responsible for the total co-ordination of the EFTA activities was established, to which into the 90's no more than 150 coworkers were necessary, while the EG-Kommission in Brussels already in the 60's more than 5000 coworkers busy.
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