EFTA Ministerial Meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland - 22 June 2026 - Communiqué

Ministers of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, together with Mr Mohammed Al-Amour, Minister of National Economy of the State of Palestine, signed the updated Bilateral Agriculture Agreements in the framework of the Interim Agreement between the EFTA States and the PLO for the Benefit of the Palestinian Authority.

Ministers of the four EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), together with Mr Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam, announced the conclusion of negotiations toward a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between EFTA and Viet Nam.

EFTA preferential trade relations

Ministers welcomed the developments in EFTA's global trade relations since their last meeting, notably the signing of both the FTA with MERCOSUR and the EFTA-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement, as well as the entry into force of the EFTA-India Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).

Ministers noted the progress in the ongoing negotiations of the comprehensive FTA with Viet Nam, acknowledging that important headway towards conclusion of the agreement has been made. Ministers emphasised their continued political support and instructed their negotiating teams to continue the work with a view of finalising the necessary steps for conclusion in the coming days. Regarding existing agreements, Ministers agreed to step up implementation of the TEPA, with a particular focus on the chapter on investment promotion and cooperation.

Stressing the importance of promoting open trade in a context marked by increasing trade restrictiveness, Ministers reiterated their commitment to further deepening trade relations with partner countries and modernising EFTA's free trade network. They identified EFTA's agreements with Canada, Mexico and Korea as priorities for modernisation efforts, and underlined the importance of starting modernisation processes where possible while continuing to assess prospects for further engagement with other FTA partners, notably the Southern African Customs Union. Ministers also welcomed progress in implementing the revised Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention through EFTA's free trade network, and committed to finalising this process with EFTA's remaining FTA partners.

Looking ahead, Ministers emphasised the importance of strengthening engagement with partners beyond existing agreements, including by finalising the work plan under the ASEAN-EFTA Joint Declaration on Economic Cooperation and identifying opportunities for structured dialogues with relevant trading partners and blocs, particularly the CPTPP.

Horizontal files

Regarding EFTA's work on horizontal files, Ministers took note of the developments in EFTA's monitoring of preference utilisation, which is now being offered as a dynamic dashboard making the benefits of FTAs more accessible for businesses and other stakeholders.

Ministers also reiterated the value of EFTA's work on monitoring implementation of the chapter on trade and sustainable development in its FTAs and welcomed the forthcoming monitoring exercises with FTA partners where Joint Committee meetings provide the opportunity to pursue this activity. 

Relations between the EEA EFTA States and the European Union

Ministers reiterated the importance of close and values-based cooperation with the European Union in the face of a fundamentally changing geopolitical environment. In this context, they underlined the important coordination between the three EEA EFTA States - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - and the EU on various pressing issues, including European competitiveness, economic security, climate change and the implementation of sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

Ministers underlined the importance of ensuring the swift incorporation of EEA-relevant legal acts into the EEA Agreement. They repeated the EEA EFTA States' commitment to reducing the number of acts awaiting incorporation in order to uphold legal certainty and homogeneity across the EEA.

Ministers further emphasised the importance of continuing the work on assessing cross-sectoral EU initiatives. These initiatives impact the Internal Market while also serving policy objectives outside the traditional scope of the EEA cooperation, and may therefore have implications for the EEA EFTA States and their participation in the Internal Market.

Ministers stressed the need to highlight that the EEA EFTA States are reliable partners in crafting a competitive and future-proof Internal Market and are deeply integrated in European value chains. The close and reliable partnership between the EEA EFTA States and the EU is based on equal access to the Internal Market, and should not be adversely affected by developments related to trade or economic security. The Internal Market consists of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in addition to the 27 EU Member States, and it is in the shared interest of all 30 EEA States that they are included in its strategic evolution.

Finally, Ministers underlined the importance of pursuing outreach activities to strengthen awareness and knowledge of the EEA Agreement, including by fostering increased transparency of EEA processes.

Relations between Switzerland and the EU

Ministers were given an update on the ongoing work regarding relations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). The package of agreements on the stabilisation and further development of such relations (Bilateral Agreements III) is undergoing the ratification process in both Switzerland and the EU. Ministers were informed about the next steps of the procedure as well as on the outcome of the popular vote on the initiative "No to a Switzerland with 10 million!" which took place on 14 June.

Advisory Bodies

During their meeting, Ministers reaffirmed their goal to continue fostering transparency with regard to FTA processes, especially through close and regular dialogue with the EFTA Advisory Bodies - the EFTA Parliamentary Committee and the EFTA Consultative Committee. Ministers then met with the two committees for their customary exchange on EFTA's trade relations. The open and frank discussion focused on the EFTA-Viet Nam FTA, recent developments in global trade, and EFTA's trade priorities, including the modernisation of existing agreements and cooperation with like-minded partners. Recommendations from the EFTA Advisory Bodies on the broader future orientation of EFTA's trade policy served as a basis for the discussion.

Attending:

Iceland: Ms Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Liechtenstein: Ms Sabine Monauni, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Culture

Norway: Mr Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Switzerland: Mr Guy Parmelin, President of Switzerland and Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research 

EFTA Secretariat: Mr Kurt Jäger, Secretary-General

Joint Communiqué

Conclusions on EFTA internal and external relations

Conclusions on Standing Committee

EFTA and Viet Nam make significant progress during 20th round of negotiations