Speaking frankly, it is pure nonsense to presume that somebody would want to recreate the former Yugoslavia. The European Commission's proposal is aimed at strengthening trade and investment in the Western Balkans by creating a regional zone of free trade that would replace the existing network of bilateral agreements, Rehn said in an exclusive interview with the Croatia national broadcasting company HRT.
The EC official said that the existing free trade agreements had already boosted trade, but that there was still room for growth and that a single trade zone, connected with the EU, should be established.
Whether this will be based on CEFTA or something else remains to be seen. I consider the option of using CEFTA to be a relevant alternative which we are carefully considering, Rehn said.
The EC proposed last week that the existing free trade agreements between five countries covered by the Stabilisation and Association Process (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Albania) be replaced with a single agreement on a free trade zone in the Western Balkans, the term the EU uses to denote the area of Southeast Europe.
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has said that there is no need for a new zone, proposing that the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) be expanded to cover the other four countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
CEFTA used to include 10 countries which in May 2004 joined the EU. After their admission to the EU, CEFTA was left with Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia as members. If Bulgaria and Romania join the EU in 2007, Croatia will remain the only CEFTA member.