Kosovo Joins Enlarged Central European Free Trade Agreement

Luan Ibraj

20 December 2006

The new modernised and enlarged Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) was signed today at the South East European summit of Prime Ministers in Bucharest. Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo (SRSG) Joachim Rucker, together with Kosovo Minister for Trade and Industry Bujar Dugolli and Deputy Head of UNMIK Pillar IV Andreas Wittkowsky, participated in the signing ceremony on behalf of Kosovo.

The CEFTA will lead to a new era in relations among the new CEFTA members, and in their relations with the European Union and the international community, noted the joint declaration adopted at this summit meeting in Bucharest, Romania. The Agreement will unify, simplify and modernise trade relations among the parties, and also create new institutions, such as the Joint Committee and the Secretariat, which will be established to support the work of the CEFTA.

�For Kosovo, the signing of this agreement is the final milestone in the process, which started with concluding a network of bilateral Free Trade Agreements among the CEFTA members�, Rucker said. �The signing of CEFTA one more time demonstrates UNMIK�s support to Kosovo to be a part of all initiatives of regional integration and EU association. It is the third important regional integration agreement following signature of the
Energy Community Treaty in 2005 and the European Common Aviation Area Agreement earlier in 2006.�

The market created by this CEFTA comprises nearly 30 million consumers. The other parties who signed the agreement were Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. The CEFTA agreement signed today replaces 32 bilateral and other trade deals, harmonising their substance to increase transparency, enhance predictability and cut red tape.

CEFTA has played an important role in improving trade relations and in preparing its members for eventual accession to the European Union. It was originally established in 1992 by Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. They were later joined by Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia. Those countries that became members of the European Union have since left CEFTA.

After Bulgaria and Romania join the EU on 1 January 2007, CEFTA will have eight members. The agreement is intended to enter into force on 1 May 2007 following ratification by the parties.