EFTA Council meets for fifth time in 2024 and for first time under Norwegian Chair

The Council began its session by welcoming the new senior management, Secretary-General Kurt Jäger and Deputy Secretaries-General Knut Hermansen, Thordur Jonsson and Markus Schlagenhof. The new Ambassador of Liechtenstein, Frank Büchel, was also welcomed, as were incoming staff from the Missions and the EFTA Secretariat.

The Chair began by presenting Norway’s list of priorities for 2024–2025. On third-country issues, the Chair’s priorities were to conclude negotiations with Kosovo, work towards finalising negotiations with Malaysia, Mercosur and Thailand, and advance negotiations with Vietnam. Regarding existing free trade agreements (FTAs), there would be a focus on modernising the FTA with Ukraine and on negotiating the Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore. The full list of priorities, including horizontal issues and other activities, will be online shortly.

Regarding EFTA–EU relations, the Secretariat reported on recent meetings of Subcommittees I-IV and Subcommittee V in Oslo on 11 September, as well as on upcoming meetings of the EFTA Standing Committee (19 September) and EEA Joint Committee (23 September) in Brussels. Follow-up actions on the Task Force on Files with Distinctive Horizontal Dimensions’ recommendations from July were discussed, and the upcoming EEA Council meeting and biannual EEA Seminar were also reviewed, along with recent EU policy developments.

On relations with third countries, the Council discussed progress in the negotiations with Malaysia, Mercosur, Thailand and Ukraine. It also touched on the processes with Kosovo, Singapore and Tunisia.

On horizontal issues, the Secretariat updated the Council on progress made by the Working Groups on Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade and Sustainable Development, and FTA Preference Utilisation. The Council was informed that the sustainability impact assessment for a potential FTA with Thailand would soon be completed. The Secretariat also presented the EFTA Mid-Year Report 2024, summarising key activities and financial results for the first half of the year.

The Council approved the reappointment of Oliver Hermann as the Liechtenstein member of the EFTA Board of Auditors for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026.

Lastly, the Council approved four operating grants and one action grant and authorised the Secretary-General to sign the agreements.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 12 November 2024.  

Priorities of the Norwegian Chair of the EFTA Council 2024-2025