From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization   
   and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland,   
   Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.[4] The organization operates in   
   parallel with the European Union (EU), and    
   all four member states participate in the European Single Market and are part   
   of the Schengen Area.[5] They are not, however, party to the European Union   
   Customs Union.   
      
   EFTA was historically one of the two dominant western European trade blocs,   
   but is now much smaller and closely associated with its historical competitor,   
   the European Union. It was established on 3 May 1960 to serve as an   
   alternative trade bloc for    
   those European states that were unable or unwilling to join the then European   
   Economic Community (EEC), the main predecessor of the EU. The Stockholm   
   Convention (1960), to establish the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the   
   Swedish capital by seven    
   countries (known as the "outer seven": Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal,   
   Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom).[6] A revised Convention, the   
   Vaduz Convention, was signed on 21 June 2001 and entered into force on 1 June   
   2002.[7]   
      
   Since 1995, only two founding members remain, namely Norway and Switzerland.   
   The other five, Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, had   
   joined the EU at some point in the intervening years. The initial Stockholm   
   Convention was    
   superseded by the Vaduz Convention, which aimed to provide a successful   
   framework for continuing the expansion and liberalization of trade, both among   
   the organization's member states and with the rest of the world.   
      
   Whilst the EFTA is not a customs union and member states have full rights to   
   enter into bilateral third-country trade arrangements, it does have a   
   coordinated trade policy.[4] As a result, its member states have jointly   
   concluded free trade agreements    
   with the EU and a number of other countries.[4] To participate in the EU's   
   single market, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway are parties to the Agreement   
   on a European Economic Area (EEA), with compliances regulated by the EFTA   
   Surveillance Authority and    
   the EFTA Court. Switzerland has a set of bilateral agreements with the EU   
   instead   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Trade_Association   
      
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