Prospects of
CEFTA
Objectives
CEFTA 2008 - 2011
CEFTA 2012 - 2015
• All commitments and deadlines met
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Liberalisation of trade in goods
Diagonal cumulation
Opening of PP Market
TBT notification
State Aid notification
IPR review
Non-discrimination in Investment
CEFTA Trade Portal
• Strategic partnerships deepened
• Investment
• Supply chains
• Transportation channels
• CEFTA implementation focused on
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CEFTA SECRETARIAT
Liberalisation of trade in services
Elimination of NTBs
Trade Facilitation
Transparency
Challenges for the years to come
• In 2012 – 2015, implementation of CEFTA is involving the domains for
which
• Objectives of liberalisation are not explicitly set up by the Agreement;
• Ministries responsible for Trade might not always have a direct
mandate over these domains, thus requiring involvement of other
governmental bodies (e.g. elimination of NTBs, trade facilitation,
liberalisation of trade in services, etc.);
• These areas require technically complex discussions, as well as
coordinated efforts of both policy making Ministries and law
enforcement authorities at the same time;
• As a consequence, the projects and initiatives to support the
implementation are also getting technically demanding and increasingly
complex.
• Trade policy alone is not sufficient to optimise the impact of regional
trade liberalisation and European integration.
CEFTA SECRETARIAT
Assumptions
• Harmonisation efforts within CEFTA are aligned with the
common objective to join the EU.
• All decisions are promoting and not in anyway jeopardising
the accession process of respective Parties.
• No CEFTA specific standards or practice are introduced.
CEFTA SECRETARIAT
“CEFTA Approach”
• Analyse trade flows
• Assess existing and potential barriers to trade
• Articulate respective Parties interest
• Identify potential area of multilateral/plurilateral interest
• Cross-check with the respective EU accession priorities/plans
• Agree on the scope of CEFTA negotiations
CEFTA SECRETARIAT
Key Success Factors
• Strategic view– understanding strategic importance of trade and strengthening
regional cooperation/partnerships
• by the Parties in the context of their economic development, regional
cooperation and accession to the EU
• by the donors in the context of the impact of trade on promoting economic
development in the Region
• Coordination – efficient coordination required
• among the Parties in the negotiations
• within respective Parties administrations to develop Parties’ positions
• between the Parties and the Secretariat to execute action
• between the Parties, the Secretariat and international partners to seek for
synergies and prevent overlapping of efforts
• Sustainability – ensuring sustainability of the process as a prerequisite to success
• discipline of all actors in programming and implementation of priorities
• regular participation and appropriate representation in official meetings
• active involvement in agreed activities
• financial discipline
CEFTA SECRETARIAT
THANK YOU.