Exhibition Details | Exhibitions

Celebrating 65 years of EFTA

Regional roots, global reach

Celebrating 65 years of EFTA

In 2025, EFTA marks its 65th anniversary. Since its establishment in 1960, EFTA has embodied the conviction that cooperation and free trade can drive prosperity, stability and openness across borders. What began as a regional effort among a handful of European states has evolved into a dynamic global network, linking partners across continents through a wide array of free trade agreements and cooperative frameworks.

This anniversary exhibition traces EFTA’s journey through the milestones that have shaped its identity – from its beginnings as a small group of countries working to promote free trade among themselves as an alternative to the EEC, to the extensive global network it belongs to nowadays. The exhibition highlights EFTA’s role in European integration, its enduring relations with the EU, and its relationship with international organisations such as the OECD and WTO.

Sign on EFTA's Headquarters. Photo: Unknown author / HAEU, EFTA-1620_25

Trusted global partner

The exhibition also follows EFTA’s growing global footprint, with free trade agreements spanning Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. It showcases the stability of EFTA’s four current members – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and the organisation’s ability to adapt to new challenges while remaining a trusted and reliable partner in world trade.

Photo: EFTA Pavilion at St. Erik Trade Fair, Stockholm (Sweden), 31 August – 11 September 1960. Photo: Ateljé Uggla A.B. / EFTA-1587_3

Commemorating EFTA’s milestones

This selection of twelve images depicts key moments in EFTA's history. The photographs are from three landmark occasions: the 20th Anniversary Exhibition in 1980, the 25th Anniversary Exhibition in 1985, and the 30th Anniversary Round Table in 1990. They illustrate how EFTA has celebrated its achievements and evolving role in European trade and cooperation, using exhibitions and public events both to highlight its progress and to engage with changing political and economic contexts.

Together, the images present a visual narrative of how EFTA has used its anniversaries to look back, celebrate its accomplishments, and reaffirm its mission for the future.

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