The regional economic integration in Europe.
The regional economic integration in Europe.
Regional Economic in Europe : Types of regional economic integration in Europe are as follows
1. EFTA: The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was created in 1960 by the outer seven (as a looser alternative to the then-European Communities) but most of its membership has since joined the Communities/ EU leaving only four countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtensteim) which are still party to the treaty.
2. CEFTA: Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, two FTAs were created in central Europe, the Baltic Free Trade Area (BAFTA) and the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), so as to stabilise these countries for becoming member of the EU. CEFTA has expanded into Southern Europe having members from the Western Balkans and Moldova,
3. BAFTA: The Baltic Free Trade Area was a free trade agreement between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which existed between 1994 and 2004. BAFTA was created to help in preparing the countries for their accession to the EU. On 1 May 2004, all these three states joined the European Union, and BAFTA was ceased to exist.
4. CISFTA: The commonwealth of independent states had been negotiating a CIS free trade area since 1994 and in 2011 eight countries were agreed to create a free trade area which includes Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Moldova. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia form a customs union.
5. EU: The European Union (EU) has always operated as more than a free trade area having its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC) which was founded as a customs union. The EU shares its single market with three EFTA members through the European Economic Area and has some level of a free trade agreement with most of the other European countries.
6. European Union Customs Union (EUCU): The European Union Customs Union is a customs union that consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU). Turkey and three European microstates-San Marino, Monaco and Andorra. No customs are levied on goods which travel within the customs union and the members of the customs union impose a common external tariff over all goods that enter the union. One of the major consequences of the customs union is that European Union has to negotiate as a single entity in international trade deals such as the World Trade Organization.
