The European Free Trade Area was established in the sixties, to achieve economic growth, full employment, productivity growth, financial stability and a steady improvement in living standards. should be achieved through the reduction of trade restrictions between Member States. Today there are four remaining Member States: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and the other countries joined the EU. The EFTA never aspired to a political federation, and was strictly against the Principle of supra-nationality. This is in contrast to the EU, which today is an undemocratic, centralized behemoth. The EFTA Member States agreed on a gradual reduction of tariffs on industrial products, without giving up their sovereignty. Since 1994, the EFTA has agreed with great success free trade agreements with countries of the former Soviet bloc, with Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In addition, there are cooperation agreements with Albania, Egypt and Macedonia.
The EFTA never wanted to establish a common market, but only regulate the free trade - on the basis of trade under fair conditions of competition. The Member States concluded agricultural products, since the inclusion of agricultural products of the basic structure of EFTA as a loose connection would have been contrary: even the freedom of trading activities had been restricted. The EFTA States recognize the principle of self-sufficiency as a national priority. EFTA is a credible and proven alternative to the EU. By establishing a free trade zone in Europe, the EFTA countries protect their own interests and political resistance as any political centralism.
That was for countries like Switzerland is of particular importance as it is for safety of self-reliance and helped in traditional small-scale farms support that are so typical for this country. In addition, a human dimension was added: the active self-help, self-determination and the right of countries to decide on their own nutritional needs themselves. This is another reason why the EFTA is a viable and real alternative to the EU.
(article in Current Concerns No. 36 dated 14 September 2009 by Dr. Titine Kriesi)
0 comments:
Post a Comment