Treaties and agreements in Eastern Europe

CEFTA. The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade agreement between non-EU countries, members of which are now mostly located in Southeastern Europe. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, CEFTA expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on behalf of the disputed region of Kosovo.

Once a participating country joins the European Union (EU), its CEFTA membership ends. As of 1 July 2013, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on behalf of Kosovo.

It was firmed in 1992.

Current criteria to get in 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

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.

Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are official candidate countries of the EU.

At the EU's recommendation, the future members prepared for membership by establishing free trade areas. A large proportion of CEFTA foreign trade is with EU countries.

STABILITY PACT FOR SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE. The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe was an institution

aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe from 1999 to 2008. It was replaced by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in February 2008. The RCC replaced it because it is more "regionally owned" than the Stability Pact, which was driven more by outside partners such as the EU.

REGIONAL COOPERATION COUNCIL. The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is a regional cooperative framework for countries in Southeast Europe, with the goal of "promoting mutual cooperation and European and Euro-Atlantic integration of South East Europe in order to inspire development in the region to the benefit of its people".

Participants of the RCC:

• Albania

• Austria

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Bulgaria

• Canada

• Council of Europe

• Council of Europe Development Bank

• Croatia

• Czech Republic

• Denmark

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

• European Investment Bank

• European Union (EU), represented by a representative of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and a representative of the European Commission

• Federal Republic of Germany

• Finland

• France

• Greece

• Hungary

• International Organization for Migration

• Ireland

• Italy

• Kosovo

• Latvia

• Moldova

• Montenegro

• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

• Norway

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

• Poland

• Romania

• Serbia

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• South East European Co-operative Initiative

• Spain

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• The Republic of Macedonia

• Turkey

• United Kingdom

• United Nations

• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

• United Nations Development Programme

• United States

• World Bank

PAN - EUROPEAN CUMULATION SYSTEM. a new pan-European set of rules for industrial goods replaced a multiplicity of rules of origin within different European free trade associations. It reports that PESCO effectively created a free trade zone in Europe with the exception of agriculture and textiles.

References:

http://europa-oriental-rei.blogspot.com.es/p/tratados-comerciales.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_Europe#Economy_maps