Opening to the Mediterranean, Balkans and Middle East (1995–1999)
After Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, the four remaining EFTA States reassessed their external policy and agreed on a new third-country strategy at the Bergen Ministerial meeting. The adopted Declaration on Third-Country Relations set a clear path:
• Start with joint declarations on cooperation;
• Provide technical assistance to partners;
• Move towards free trade agreements when conditions allow.
The aim was to remain flexible, ensure parallelism and coherence with EU policies, and make an independent contribution to regional and global economic cooperation.
The Bergen Summit in 1995 also marked EFTA’s participation in the Barcelona Process, fostering relations with non-European Mediterranean States. This led to a series of joint declarations on cooperation (JDCs) and FTAs with countries like Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, deepening EFTA’s role as a partner in Euro-Mediterranean integration. JDCs were signed with Macedonia, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon and Jordan, paving the way for future FTAs.
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Preliminary programme for the EFTA Ministerial Meeting, Bergen, 13-15 June 1995. HAEU, EFTA-509
Preliminary programme for the EFTA Ministerial Meeting, Bergen, 13-15 June 1995. HAEU, EFTA-509
Ministerial Meeting Regarding the Signing of the Free Trade Agreement between EFTA and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, Geneva, Switzerland, 10- 11 December 1991. Photo: Alain Morvan / HAEU, EFTA 1547
Ministerial Meeting Regarding the Signing of the Free Trade Agreement between EFTA and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania, Geneva, Switzerland, 10- 11 December 1991. Photo: Alain Morvan / HAEU, EFTA 1547
Signing of a Joint Declaration on Cooperation with Albania, Geneva, Switzerland, 10 December 1992. Photo: Alain Morvan / HAEU, EFTA 1553
Signing ceremony of the EFTA–Morocco Joint Declaration on Cooperation, Geneva, 19 June 1997. Photo: Pascal Volery / HAEU-EFTA-1382_2
Expanding across continents (2000–2005)
The new millennium saw the arrival of a new generation of free trade agreements, marking the transformation from first-generation FTAs (focused on goods) to second-generation FTAs (covering services, investment, public procurement, competition and intellectual property) – anticipating the challenges of globalisation.
In 2000, EFTA signed its landmark second-generation FTA with Mexico – EFTA’s first transatlantic agreement – followed by an agreement with Singapore in 2002, and by an agreement with Chile, signed in 2003 and entered into force in 2004. The EFTA–Singapore FTA was EFTA’s first trade agreement signed with an East Asian country. In 2005, EFTA signed an FTA with the Republic of Korea, becoming the first European bloc to do so. These comprehensive deals marked EFTA’s leap into global trade relations.
Going global (2006–2025)
From 2006 onwards, EFTA intensified its global profile, further expanding into Africa with the signing of its historic FTA with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland). This was not only EFTA’s first FTA with another group of countries, but also its first in Sub-Saharan Africa and with partners at very different stages of development.
Between 2018 and 2025, EFTA concluded a wave of new (Indonesia, Moldova, India, Thailand, Kosovo, Malaysia, MERCOSUR) and modernised (Chile, Ukraine) agreements, as well as a sectoral agreement with Singapore on digital trade. In addition, the EEA EFTA States and Switzerland concluded separate agreements with the UK following its departure from the EU.
Today, EFTA has one of the world’s most expansive and comprehensive free trade networks, with 35 FTAs across 49 countries beyond its own membership and the EU, linking its four small states to partners in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, and providing access to hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide.
Relations with third countries
Partnerships beyond EFTA and the first free trade agreement (1967-1979)
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