Central European Free Trade Agreement

Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)

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the members of CEFTA (blue)

CEFTA Secretariat| Brussels
Working language| English
Official languages
of contracting states|

7 languages

* Albanian
* Bosnian
* Croatian
* Macedonian
* Montenegrin
* Romanian
* Serbian

Type| Trade agreement
Membership|

* Albania
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kosovo
* Moldova
* Montenegro
* North Macedonia
* Serbia

Leaders

• Chair-in-office 2026

|  Albania[1]

• Director of the CEFTA Secretariat

| Danijela Gačević (acting)
Establishment

• Agreement signed

| 21 December 1992

• CEFTA 2006 Agreement signed

| 19 December 2006
Area

• Total

| 252,428 km2 (97,463 sq mi)
Population

• 2026 estimate

| 18.92 million

• Density

| 85/km2 (220.1/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)| 2026 estimate

• Total

| $535.29 billion[2]

• Per capita

| $28,292
GDP (nominal)| 2026 estimate

• Total

| $246.86 billion

• Per capita

| $13,048
Currency|

6 currencies

* `ALL` Lek
* `BAM` Convertible mark
* Template:Country data KOS `EUR` Euro
* `MDL` Leu
* `EUR` Euro
* `MKD` Denar
* `RSD` Dinar

Time zone| UTC+1, UTC+2

• Summer (DST)

| UTC+2, UTC+3

Website
https://cefta.int/

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is an international trade agreement between countries mostly located in Southeastern Europe. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, CEFTA over time expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Kosovo.[3][4][5]

## Contents

* 1 Members
* 2 Membership criteria
* 3 Current members
* 4 History
* 4.1 Original agreement
* 4.2 2006 agreement
* 5 Chair-in-office
* 6 Relations with the European Union
* 7 See also
* 8 Notes
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Members

As of 2024, the parties to the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.[3][4][5]

Former parties are Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Their CEFTA memberships ended when they became member states of the European Union (EU). Kosovo was originally represented by UNMIK, but began representing itself from October 2024 onwards.[3][6]

Parties of agreement | Joined |  Left | Joined EU

|
|
|

Poland | 21 December 1992 (signed)
1 March 1993 (entry into force)[7][8] | 30 April 2004 | 1 May 2004
Hungary
Czech Republic[lower-alpha 1]
Slovakia[lower-alpha 1]
Slovenia | 1 January 1996
Romania | 1 July 1997 | 31 December 2006 | 1 January 2007
Bulgaria | 1 January 1999
Croatia | 1 March 2003 | 30 June 2013 | 1 July 2013
North Macedonia[lower-alpha 2] | 1 January 2006 | -- | --
Albania | 1 May 2007[9]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kosovo[lower-alpha 3]
Moldova
Montenegro
Serbia

## 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

Contracting party  | Accession  | Population  |

Area (km²)

| Capital  |

GDP in billions (PPP)[10]

GDP per capita (PPP)[10]

|
|
|
|
|
|

Albania  | 1 May 2007  | 2,761,785 | 28,748 | Tirana | 55.049  | 18,037
Bosnia and Herzegovina  | 3,345,818 | 51,209 | Sarajevo | 77.076  | 18,409
Template:Country data KOS Kosovo[lower-alpha 3] | 1,586,659 | 10,887 | Pristina | 27.966  | 14,294
Moldova  | 2,423,300 | 33,843 | Chișinău | 43.227  | 15,606
Montenegro  | 604,966 | 13,812  | Podgorica | 18.999  | 27,037
North Macedonia  | 1 Jan. 2006  | 1,836,713 | 25,713 | Skopje | 47.108  | 23,173
Serbia  | 1 May 2007  | 6,623,183 | 77,474 | Belgrade | 222.040  | 34,493

## History

History of CEFTA members from 1992 to 2013. All of the original members of the trade pact became members of the European Union (EU), and because of such, Southeast European nations, such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo,[3][4][5] Montenegro, and Serbia, joined in and carried the CEFTA.

* * *

CEFTA member states

EU member states

### Original agreement

The original CEFTA agreement was signed by the Visegrád Group countries, that is by Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (at the time parts of the Czechoslovakia) 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 Western Balkans, 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.[11] Kosovo is directly represented in CEFTA since October 2024.[3][4][5] Accession of Ukraine has also been discussed.[12] 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.[13] The agreement came into effect on 26 July 2007 for Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro and Macedonia, 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.

CEFTA 2006 aims at expanding regional trade in goods and services, creating an attractive environment for investment, and contributing to economic development and cooperation within the Parties. Laying down on the principles of WTO rules and procedures and harmonising its policies with the EU legislation, CEFTA provides an effective instrument for the Parties to accelerate their European integration agenda. Since the establishing, CEFTA has been deepening the areas of cooperation based on the needs of the businesses and strengthening trading relations between the Parties. From achieving the full liberalisation of trade in goods and further liberalisation in trade in services, via reducing trade related costs, harmonising the policies within the Parties based on the EU legislation, to expediting trade between Parties through electronic exchange of information, CEFTA has proven as a framework that ensures transparent trade relations between the Parties that can enable the businesses to improve their capacities for different markets.

## Chair-in-office

The Chair-in-office rotates between member states:

* 2007 :  North Macedonia
* 2008 :  Moldova
* 2009 :  Montenegro
* 2010 :  Serbia
* 2011 :  UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo
* 2012 :  Albania
* 2013 :  Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 2014 :  North Macedonia
* 2015 :  Moldova
* 2016 :  Montenegro
* 2017 :  Serbia
* 2018 :  UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo
* 2019 :  Albania
* 2020 :  Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 2021 :  North Macedonia
* 2022 :  Moldova
* 2023 :  Montenegro
* 2024 :  Serbia
* 2025 :  Kosovo
* 2026 :  Albania

## 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.

Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia have been undergoing EU accession talks since 2012, 2014 and 2022.

## See also

* Accession of Albania to the European Union
* Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union
* Accession of Kosovo to the European Union
* Accession of Moldova to the European Union
* Accession of Montenegro to the European Union
* Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union
* Accession of Serbia to the European Union
* Economy of Europe
* Free trade areas in Europe
* European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
* Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (includes an array of bilateral FTAs)
* South-East European Cooperation Process
* Southeast Europe Transport Community
* Rules of origin
* Market access
* Free-trade area
* Tariffs

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Until 1 January 1993 part of Czechoslovakia.
2. ↑ Until 2019 named Republic of Macedonia.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Under the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo until October 2024.

## References

1. ↑ https://albaniandailynews.com/news/albania-takes-over-next-cefta-presidency-in-2026
2. ↑ World economic outlook databases. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "EU Welcomes Kosovo's Move to Scrap Ban on Serbian Imports". 9 October 2024. https://balkaninsight.com/2024/10/08/eu-welcomes-kosovos-move-to-scrap-ban-on-serbian-imports/.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Vllahiu, Emirjeta (2024-10-09). "Ambasadori gjerman: Kosova do të përfaqësohet pa UNMIK-un në CEFTA" (in en). https://kallxo.com/lajm/ambasadori-gjerman-kosova-do-te-perfaqesohet-pa-unmik-un-ne-cefta/.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Berisha, Kemajl (2024-10-08). "Nesër mbledhja e CEFTA-s, Kosova me fusnotë përfaqësohet nga MINT, synohen lehtësira për tregti të lirë - Telegrafi" (in en-US). https://telegrafi.com/neser-mbledhja-e-cefta-s-kosova-fusnote-perfaqesohet-nga-mint-synohen-lehtesira-per-tregti-te-lire/.
6. ↑ "Kosovo is no longer represented by UNMIK in CEFTA". 9 October 2024. https://euronews.al/en/kosovo-is-no-longer-represented-by-unmik-in-cefta/.
7. ↑ Central European Free Trade Agreement, 21 December 1992.
8. ↑ "CEFTA : History" (in en). https://globaledge.msu.edu/trade-blocs/cefta/history. .
9. ↑ Agreement on Amendment of and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement, 19 December 2006.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Data for 2023. International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database
11. ↑ "Economic Initiative for Kosovo - ECIKS, Investment opportunities in Kosovo, Privatization process in Kosovo, investing in Kosovo, Kosovo Business, Kosovo Economy". http://www.eciks.org/english/lajme.php?action=total_news&main_id=417.
12. ↑ "Ukraine, Croatia broaden ties". 14 July 2006. https://www.unian.info/world/10524-ukraine-croatia-broaden-ties.html.
13. ↑ "Archived copy". http://www.euinkosovo.org/upload_press/Central European Free Trade Agreement initialled.pdf.

## External links

* CEFTA official website
* CEFTA Trade Portal
* Original CEFTA Treaty
* Market Access Map (A free tool developed by International Trade Centre, which identify customs tariffs, tariff rate quotas, trade remedies, regulatory requirements and preferential regimes applicable to products, including CEFTA)
* Rules of Origin Facilitator (A free tool jointly developed by International Trade Centre, World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization which enables traders to find specific criteria and general origin requirements applicable to their products, understand and comply with them in order to be eligible for preferential tariffs. The tool is very useful for traders who want to gain benefit from CEFTA)
* CEFTA 2006 Agreement

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