Prime ministers from Southeast European countries - Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as UN Civil Administrator in Kosovo - met in Bucharest to discuss a multilateral agreement on free trade to be established by expanding CEFTA to include four more countries.
CEFTA currently covers Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia. Bulgaria and Romania will leave when they join the EU on 1 January 2007 or 2008. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Moldavia are expected to join CEFTA by the end of this year.
Established in 1992, CEFTA also covered countries which in 2004 joined the EU. Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said that CEFTA was a school for countries to learn the rules of the market economy and prepare for EU membership.
The European Commission supports the establishment of a single free trade zone in Southeast Europe, but will not directly participate in negotiations.
The EU will continue supporting the individual approach of every country, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said in Bucharest, stressing that the strong connection between the recent major enlargement round and reserves towards future enlargement among member-states was mostly of a psychological nature.
There is nothing more difficult than overcoming prejudices, Schuessel said, adding that prejudices were based on lack of knowledge about one another.
Regional cooperation is not separate from or alternative to European integration, it is its integral and logical part, said European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn.
European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that a single big market would stimulate investment and employment.
The multilateral agreement should be signed by the end of the year and go into force by the end of 2007. It will replace the existing 31 bilateral trade agreements, it was heard at the Bucharest conference, organised by the Romanian government and the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe.
A joint declaration that will be adopted at the end of the conference will convey the readiness of the countries concerned for regional cooperation, said Stability Pact Co-ordinator Erhard Busek.
Negotiations should result in a modern, ambitious, comprehensive agreement that would be applicable and help overcome unavoidable trade disputes, said Busek, calling on negotiators to negotiate in good faith and make necessary compromises.