EFTA Council meets for the fourth time in 2024 and for the seventh and last time under Swiss Chair

On third-country relations, Member States were briefed on the processes with Mercosur, Singapore, Malaysia and Kosovo. They were informed that a meeting at the level of Heads of Delegation had been held with Mercosur on 21 May to take stock of expert discussions.

 With regard to Singapore, an eighth round of negotiations had taken place on 14–16 May in Geneva, with progress made towards finding common ground on key sensitive areas. Two further meetings were held on 3 and 7 June. 

Member States were also updated on the 15th round of negotiations with Malaysia on 28–30 May in Kuala Lumpur, and the third round of negotiations with Kosovo on 3–5 May in Geneva. The Council further discussed ongoing preparations for the EFTA Ministerial meeting taking place on 24 June in Geneva.

On EFTA–EU relations, the Secretariat reported on the EEA Council meeting of 28 May and the Subcommittees I-IV meetings of 29 May, as well as the EEA 30-Year Anniversary Conference on the heels of the EEA Council meeting. Delegates also discussed the upcoming meetings of the EFTA Standing Committee and EEA Joint Committee and the first takeaways from the European Parliament elections.

Finally, Member States discussed EFTA’s ongoing work on horizontal issues, particularly the EFTA–Thailand sustainability impact assessment and the EFTA FTA Monitor, which will be published on 18 June.

Closing the meeting, the Chair thanked the outgoing EFTA Secretariat senior management for their invaluable contribution to the organisation. The incoming EFTA Secretary-General and Deputy Secretaries-General will assume their positions on 1 September, and the next Council meeting is scheduled for 17 September.