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Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Native names
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 Logo | |
 Map of Europe (grey) indicating the members of CEFTA (blue) | |
| CEFTA Secretariat | Brussels |
| Working language | English |
| Official languages of contracting states | |
| Type | Trade agreement |
| Membership | |
| Leaders | |
• Chair-in-office 2025 |  Kosovo[1] |
• Acting Director of the CEFTA Secretariat | Danijela Gačević |
| Establishment | |
• Agreement signed | 21 December 1992 |
• CEFTA 2006 Agreement signed | 19 December 2006 |
| Area | |
• Total | 252,428 km2 (97,463 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2025 estimate | 19.06 million |
• Density | 85/km2 (220.1/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2025 estimate |
• Total | $511.129 billion[2] |
• Per capita | $26,816 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2025 estimate |
• Total | $206.911 billion |
• Per capita | $10,855 |
| Currency | |
| Time zone | UTC+1,UTC+2 |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2,UTC+3 |
Website https://cefta.int/ | |
TheCentral European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is an internationaltrade agreement between countries mostly located inSoutheastern Europe. Founded by representatives ofPoland,Hungary andCzechoslovakia, CEFTA over time expanded toAlbania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia,Moldova,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Romania,Serbia,Slovenia andKosovo.[3][4][5]
As of 2024, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are:Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Kosovo,Moldova,Montenegro,North Macedonia andSerbia.[3][4][5]
Former parties areBulgaria,Croatia,Czech Republic,Hungary,Poland,Romania,Slovakia, andSlovenia. Their CEFTA memberships ended when they becamemember states of the European Union (EU). Kosovo was originally represented byUNMIK, but began representing itself from October 2024 onwards.[3][6]
| Parties of agreement | Joined | Left | Joined EU |
|---|---|---|---|
 Poland | 21 December 1992 (signed) 1 March 1993 (entry into force)[7][8] | 30 April 2004 | 1 May 2004 |
 Hungary | |||
 Czech Republic[a] | |||
 Slovakia[a] | |||
 Slovenia | 1 January 1996 | ||
 Romania | 1 July 1997 | 31 December 2006 | 1 January 2007 |
 Bulgaria | 1 January 1999 | ||
 Croatia | 1 March 2003 | 30 June 2013 | 1 July 2013 |
 North Macedonia[b] | 1 January 2006 | — | — |
 Albania | 1 May 2007[9] | ||
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||
| Kosovo[c] | |||
 Moldova | |||
 Montenegro | |||
 Serbia |
FormerPoznań Declaration criteria:
Current criteria sinceZagreb meeting in 2005:
| Contracting party | Accession | Population | Area (km²) | Capital | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 1 May 2007 | 2,761,785 | 28,748 | Tirana | 55.049 | 18,037 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3,345,818 | 51,209 | Sarajevo | 77.076 | 18,409 | |
| Kosovo[c] | 1,586,659 | 10,887 | Pristina | 27.966 | 14,294 | |
| Moldova | 2,423,300 | 33,843 | Chișinău | 43.227 | 15,606 | |
| Montenegro | 604,966 | 13,812 | Podgorica | 18.999 | 27,037 | |
| North Macedonia | 1 Jan. 2006 | 1,836,713 | 25,713 | Skopje | 47.108 | 23,173 |
| Serbia | 1 May 2007 | 6,623,183 | 77,474 | Belgrade | 180.040 | 24,493 |
The original CEFTA agreement was signed by theVisegrád Group countries, that is by Poland, Hungary and Czechia and Slovakia (at the time parts of theCzechoslovakia) on 21 December 1992 inKraków, Poland. It came into force in July 1994. Through CEFTA, participating countries hoped to mobilize efforts to integrate intoWestern European institutions and through this, to join European political, economic, security and legal systems, thereby consolidatingdemocracy andfree-market economics.
The agreement was amended by the agreements signed on 11 September 1995 inBrno and on 4 July 2003 inBled.
Slovenia joined CEFTA in 1996, Romania in 1997, Bulgaria in 1999, Croatia in 2003 and Macedonia in 2006.
All of the parties of the original agreement had now joined the EU and thus left CEFTA. Therefore, it was decided to extend CEFTA to cover the rest of the Western Balkans, which already had completed a matrix of bilateralfree trade agreements in the framework of theStability Pact for South Eastern Europe. On 6 April 2006, at the South East Europe Prime Ministers Summit inBucharest, a joint declaration on expansion of CEFTA toAlbania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Moldova,Serbia,Montenegro andUNMIK (on behalf ofKosovo) was adopted.[11] Kosovo is directly represented in CEFTA since October 2024.[3][4][5] Accession ofUkraine has also been discussed.[12] The new enlarged agreement was initialled on 9 November 2006 inBrussels and was signed on 19 December 2006 at the South East European Prime Ministers Summit in Bucharest.[13] The agreement came into effect on 26 July 2007 for Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro and Macedonia, on 22 August for Croatia, on 24 October for Serbia, and on 22 November 2007 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the agreement was to establish a free trade zone in the region by 31 December 2010.
CEFTA 2006 aims at expanding regional trade in goods and services, creating an attractive environment for investment, and contributing to economic development and cooperation within the Parties. Laying down on the principles of WTO rules and procedures and harmonising its policies with the EU legislation, CEFTA provides an effective instrument for the Parties to accelerate their European integration agenda. Since the establishing, CEFTA has been deepening the areas of cooperation based on the needs of the businesses and strengthening trading relations between the Parties. From achieving the full liberalisation of trade in goods and further liberalisation in trade in services, via reducing trade related costs, harmonising the policies within the Parties based on the EU legislation, to expediting trade between Parties through electronic exchange of information, CEFTA has proven as a framework that ensures transparent trade relations between the Parties that can enable the businesses to improve their capacities for different markets.
The Chair-in-office rotates between member states:
North MacedoniaMoldovaMontenegroSerbia
UNMIK on behalf ofKosovoAlbaniaBosnia and HerzegovinaNorth MacedoniaMoldovaMontenegroSerbiaUNMIK on behalf ofKosovoAlbaniaBosnia and HerzegovinaNorth MacedoniaMoldovaMontenegroSerbiaKosovoAll former participating countries had previously signed association agreements with the EU, so in fact CEFTA has served as a preparation for fullEuropean Union membership.[citation needed] Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia joined the EU on1 May 2004, with Bulgaria and Romania following suit on1 January 2007. Croatia joined the EU on1 July 2013.
Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia have been undergoing EU accession talks since 2012, 2014 and 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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