The EFTA Council met in Geneva on Tuesday 14 November under the Chairmanship of Switzerland.
Delegates discussed progress on negotiations with Thailand, India and Mercosur. The seventh round of negotiations with Thailand were held the previous week in Geneva, with both parties confirming their commitment to work towards concluding negotiations in 2024. The next round of negotiations with India will take place between 20 and 29 November 2023 in Geneva.
On EFTA–EU relations, the Secretariat reported on the first meeting of a newly established task force, mandated by the EFTA Standing Committee to evaluate files with a horizontal dimension that could pose particular challenges for the EEA EFTA States. The Secretariat also briefed the Council on preparations for the 20 November EEA Council being hosted at EFTA House, and on planning for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the EEA, which will take place in spring 2024. The Council then received a brief high-level update on recent developments in EU economic and trade policy.
Moreover, the Secretariat provided an update on horizontal issues, including work on monitoring preference utilisation in free trade agreements and sustainable development.
Finally, The Council welcomed the Chair of the EFTA Board of Auditors, who briefed delegates on the functioning of the Board and its current projects.
The next Council meeting is scheduled for Monday 11 December 2023.
- EFTA’s full report of the fifth round with Chile 🇨🇱 is now available here ➡️ https://t.co/TJNYvibYAv — 7 months 2 weeks ago
- EFTA🇮🇸 🇱🇮🇳🇴🇨🇭 parliamentarians visited #India🇮🇳 to give momentum to the trade agreement negotiations. They met wi… https://t.co/dwCKYu16YK — 7 months 2 weeks ago
- Thank you for the interesting discussion! #EFTA Parliamentarians are in #Mumbai to meet with business stakeholders… https://t.co/NQUEwyXHbb — 7 months 2 weeks ago