Outgoing EFTA Secretary General sees return of power politics
Published: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 11:10
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Henri Gétaz from Vaud is stepping down from his post as Secretary General of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after five years. In his opinion, the organization, which includes Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, will have to adapt to a return to power politics.
For Switzerland, EFTA primarily stands for the 40 or so free trade agreements that have been concluded with third countries. However, since it was founded in 1960, the organization has had to deal with rising tensions in global trade, the UK's withdrawal from the EU, a pandemic and the return of armed conflict to Europe in Ukraine. Added to this were the digital and green transitions, as Efta Secretary General Gétaz said in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Even if Gétaz is of the opinion that deglobalization has not yet really manifested itself in the volume of world trade, "this fundamental movement affects EFTA quite strongly". The four member states are "friends of the multilateral system" and have to deal with the return of the power politics of China, the USA and the EU.
"The big players will not look after our interests," said the Secretary General. In its talks with third countries, EFTA sometimes becomes a victim of the politics of the big countries. We must therefore ask ourselves whether the business model is still appropriate. "We will have to reinvent EFTA," said Gétaz.
As possible paths for the future of EFTA, he suggests investing in the monitoring and enforcement of existing agreements. Agreements should also be concluded that target issues such as e-commerce or environmental goods. Gétaz would also like to see a more informal mechanism for trade dialogs - and for EFTA to be active in future European talks, particularly with Ukraine.
After 33 years in the public sector, the man who started as a trainee at Efta during the negotiations on EEA accession will move to the private sector. His successor as Efta Secretary General will be Kurt Jäger from Liechtenstein.
©Keystone/SDA
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