Busek, who has been a proponent of a single free trade zone for a long time, will visit Zagreb on Thursday to discuss the European Commission's proposal with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.
Asked why the existing bilateral agreements on free trade were being replaced with one multilateral agreement, Busek said that the aim of the proposal was not the restoration of Yugoslavia, but the improvement of the trade and investment climate in the region since 31 bilateral agreements created
administrative obstacles for business people and government agencies.
In the document "The Western Balkans on the road to the EU: Consolidating stability and raising prosperity", adopted last week, the European Commission proposed that the existing bilateral agreements, signed between all countries in the region, be replaced with one agreement to create a single free trade zone.
Busek said this was not a proposal by the Stability Pact or the European Commission, but rather the Stability Pact and the European Commission supported a decision made by trade ministers from Southeast European countries in June 2005 to replace the network of bilateral agreements with a single agreement.
Busek said that this could be achieved also through the expansion of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
He suggested simplifying the procedure of admission to CEFTA through group expansion, with the remaining Southeast European countries joining the association.