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CEFTA 2006 Renata Vitez Director. Regional Cooperation Council WESTERN BALKANS IN 2020 Sarajevo, 24-25 February 2010. CEFTA 2006. CEFTA 2006 consolidates 32 previous bilateral free trade agreements in South East Europe.
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CEFTA 2006Renata VitezDirector Regional Cooperation Council WESTERN BALKANS IN 2020 Sarajevo, 24-25 February 2010
CEFTA 2006 • CEFTA 2006 consolidates 32 previous bilateral free trade agreements in South East Europe. • The Agreement on Amendment to and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA 2006) was signed in Bucharest in December 2006. • An agreement called CEFTA implies … the Parties “aim … to accede to the EU and that CEFTA is a proven route to accession … (Preamble) … because intra-regional free trade is part of pre-accession process to EU (SAAs). The modernised CEFTA is the first internationally binding treaty signed by the SEE countries themselves; successful implementation is vital both economically and politically. CEFTA Secretariat
WTO EU27 CEFTA “CEFTA Process” Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAA) WTO Membership CEFTA Parties CEFTA Secretariat
CEFTA 2006 provides … Full conformity with WTO Free trade up-front in all industrial products and many agricultural products (> 90%) Modern provisions on trade-related issues Evolutionary clauses on new trade issues Mechanisms for implementation and dispute settlement Harmonisation with EU acquis and a pre-accession track CEFTA Secretariat
Intra-regional exports have increased substantially since 2003 Source: The World Bank CEFTA Secretariat
The impact of the crisis on trade flows * World Bank, data for Albania, Montenegro and UNMIK/Kosovo are for January-March period, and data for BiH, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Serbia for January-April period CEFTA Secretariat
CEFTA Trade Dynamics, 2009/2008 (I-VI) CEFTA Secretariat
Priorities of the Chairmanship of Serbiain 2010 • The Serbian Chairmanship in 2010 focuses on the following priority areas: • Potential launching of liberalisation inservices, • Creating conditions to intensify investment, • Conducting the first review on public procurement legislation and • The first review on competition rules and practices. • The priorities were indorsed by the Joint Committee in Podgorica on 29 October 2009. CEFTA Secretariat
2nd Year of implementation • Chairmanship programmes are ambitious. • Results in 2009 are encouraging, especially the agreed liberalisation in agricultural trade. • Concrete initiatives/projects have been launched to support the implementation of respective Chairmanship priorities. • Co-operation with regional and international partners is excellent. • “CEFTA Week” involved over 140 participants in a variety of CEFTA related seminars and workshops. • Differences in pace and status in the EU accession process is perceived as impediment to further liberalisation. • Due to difficult economic situation further protectionist pressures can be expected. • Participation of UNMIK/Kosovo in CEFTA structures remains an issue. • Budget restrictions may affect participation in joint projects /activities. CEFTA Secretariat
www.cefta.int CEFTA Secretariat