 
All ten SEE parties signed the new CEFTA 2006 agreement in Bucharest on 19 December 2006
Brussels — After seven months of intense negotiations and last minute talks, all the countries of South Eastern Europe as well as UNMIK/Kosovo signed a new and improved Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) on 19 December in Bucharest, creating a free trade area in South Eastern Europe. This is the culmination of six years work under the auspices of the Stability Pact's Trade Working Group.
Following the initialling of the agreement in Brussels on 9 November, it was possible to overcome the remaining difficulties and ensure the full participation of the two outstanding parties, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Serbia dropped its reserve on the article on fiscal discrimination and confirmed that they would sign alongside all other Parties; intensive consultations, particularly in the last few days resulted in a decision this morning to amend Article 23 regarding specific bilateral agricultural safeguards and thus Bosnia and Herzegovina will join all its neighbours in signing the expanded, modern and ambitious CEFTA on 19 December.
“The 'five to midnight' pragmatic and constructive discussions among South Eastern Europe countries have resulted in the realisation of one of the main goals set by the SEE Prime Ministers for the CEFTA negotiations last April – that of an inclusive agreement. This is the first regional agreement negotiated and signed by the countries and territories of South Eastern Europe among themselves since the fall of communism and the conflicts of the 90s. The new CEFTA is a tremendous economic and political achievement for South Eastern Europe. It demonstrates the region’s capacity to work together for its own development and towards its European future” Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek said before leaving for Bucharest, where he attended the signing ceremony hosted by the current CEFTA chair – Romania.
The new single FTA – known as CEFTA 2006 – is a modern trade agreement that harmonises trade rules across the region and incorporates new provisions such as trade in services, intellectual property rights, public procurement and investment promotion. Moreover, the revised text is completely in line with the rules of the World Trade Organisation and with the parties’ obligations towards the EU. Implementation of CEFTA 2006 is expected to give a significant boost to intra-regional trade and very importantly to improve the region's attractiveness as a destination for much needed foreign direct investment.
The European Commission and other partners have provided strong and substantial political, technical and financial support to this Stability Pact initiative.
Note to the editors:
Parties to this agreement are Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as UNMIK/Kosovo. As current members of CEFTA, Bulgaria and Romania have participated fully in the negotiations and will sign the agreement on 19 December. However, they will have to renounce their membership of CEFTA on 31 December 2006 in line with the legal obligations for their entry into the EU.
For further information, please contact Stability Pact's Spokesperson
Mr Dragan Barbutovski at the SP Secretariat in Brussels
(Tel: +32 2 401 87 25 or press@stabilitypact.org).
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PR2006/025
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