European Free Trade Association

Acronym: EFTA

Established: 1960

Address: Rue de Varembé, 9-11, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Website: https://www.efta.int/

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisation

EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation composed of four member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Established in 1960 by the EFTA Convention, EFTA promotes free trade and economic integration between its members. Since its foundation, relations with the European Union have been at the heart of EFTA’s activities. In 1992, three of the EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and the EU signed the European Economic Area Agreement (EEA Agreement), extending the EU’s internal market to these three EEA EFTA States. In addition, since the early 1990s, EFTA has been actively engaged in trade relations with non-EU countries both inside and outside of Europe.

Contents

Digital activities

EFTA’s activities on digital issues pertain to the negotiation of e-commerce provisions in trade agreements and regulatory matters linked to the EEA. The latter relate, among others, to electronic communication such as the exchange of information via telecommunications and the internet, audiovisual services, and data protection.

Digital policy issues

E-commerce and trade

EFTA aims to include e-commerce provisions in its free trade agreements with partners across the globe. It has already successfully concluded such chapters with Chile, Moldova, and Ukraine. These chapters include provisions on paperless trade administration, open internet access, online consumer trust, electronic payments and invoicing, and cross-border data transfers, among others. EFTA is also negotiating a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, which will cover the mentioned core provisions, as well as forward-looking topics such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, and cybersecurity.

In the EEA context, EFTA’s Working Group on Electronic Communication, Audiovisual Services and Information Society (WG ECASIS) deals with legal provisions pertaining to the EU’s digital strategy: Shaping Europe’s digital future. As participants in the EU internal market, the EEA EFTA States must apply EU rules on electronic communication, audiovisual services, and the information society. In the domain of the information society, initiatives include rules on e-commerce, cross-border data flows, the reuse of public sector information, and cybersecurity, as well as electronic identification and signatures.

Future of work

EFTA is also tackling the implications of digitalisation for the future of work. In this context, the joint EFTA–EU body representing the social partners, the EEA Consultative Committee, has issued a resolution and report on digitalisation and its impact on jobs and skills and on the challenges and opportunities of greater use of AI in working life.

These documents, among others, highlight the importance of investing in ICT infrastructure and new learning methods, including apprenticeships and workplace training. They also stress that the increased use of AI in work life has to be addressed in a systematic and comprehensive manner in the EEA, while following the principles of transparency and human monitoring.

Data governance and liability of intermediaries

In the EEA context, WG ECASIS works with the EU on policies for creating a single market for data, as well as the conditions for the use of and access to data for businesses and governments within the EEA.

The working group also engages with the EU to develop a common regulatory framework for AI, for instance, through the European AI Board, in which the EEA EFTA states participate.

In the area of online intermediaries, the EEA EFTA states are in the process of extending the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act to the entire EEA and implementing these regulations in their respective markets. The EEA EFTA states are strong proponents of additional safeguards to create a secure and trustworthy online environment. In this context, they are actively following the work of the EU on age verification by online intermediaries and the EU toolbox for safe and sustainable e-commerce.

In 2024, the EEA EFTA states implemented several key EEA-relevant legal acts in the area of cybersecurity and are currently working to implement the Cyber Solidarity Act. Members of WG ECASIS participate actively in the NIS Cooperation Group and in standardisation groups to develop common European cybersecurity certification schemes.

Privacy and data protection

The EEA EFTA states’ Expert Group on Data Protection keeps track of EU initiatives in the domain of data protection, contributes to the development of EU policies and legislation, and coordinates with the European Commission on new EU data adequacy decisions for counterparties outside the EEA.
The group recently issued an EEA EFTA Comment on the proposed revisions to the enforcement rules on the General Data Protection Regulation, which is covered by the EEA Agreement.

Digital tools

Resources

EFTA offers a host of interactive tools, covering trade statistics, free trade agreements, the utilisation of tariff preferences, and business-relevant information for small and medium-sized enterprises. On the EEA side, EFTA has created a web tool that visualises how EU law becomes EEA law.