Europe

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OPINION ONLY

EFTA countries are those nations in Europe who chose to remain out of the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market, established between France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. This later became the European Union. Britain was also excluded from the first EEC but it did not join the EFTA.

The EFTA consisted of:

• Switzerland which was determine to retain its neutrality;
  
• the Scandinavian countries had their own multinational trade relationships
  
  • Iceland,
    
  • Norway,
    
  • Sweden,
    
  • Denmark,
    
  • Finland (associated only)
  
  
• Austria sat uncomfortably between the Soviet bloc and the European allies and became a member of the EFTA rather than the EEC,
  
• Portugal was opposed by Spain in the EEC.

The Soviet-dominated Baltic states and Eastern Europe were not initially invited into either the EEC or the EFTA,

Later countries moved progressively out of the EFTA and into the EEC.
Today, only Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein remain members of EFTA (of which only Norway and Switzerland are the only remaining founding members). The Stockholm Convention was subsequently replaced by the Vaduz Convention. This Convention provides for the liberalisation of trade among the member states.

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