On 26 February 1959, the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) notes the problems encountered in Oslo by the Governments of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom with regard to the establishment of a free-trade area.

On 17 June 1959, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the efforts made by Reginald Maudling, UK Paymaster-General, to establish a free-trade area in Europe.

On 10 October 1959, the periodical Documentation syndicale italienne outlines the position of the unions in Europe on relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 21 July 1959, Ministers from Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, meeting in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, approve the establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and announce that negotiations will continue with a view to the establishment of a Nordic Common Market.

On 20 November 1959, in Stockholm, representatives from Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom give the green light to the establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 20 November 1959, meeting in Stockholm, the representatives of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom adopt the text of the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and declare their willingness to open negotiations with the Six in order to establish new foundations for their economic relations.

In December 1959, the Austrian cinema newsreel reports on the political and diplomatic debates concerning the establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 30 November 1959, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry sends to Portugal’s Embassies a circular concerning Portugal’s commitment to the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).

On 3 January 1960, Bruno Kreisky (left), Austrian Foreign Minister, and Fritz Bock (right), Austrian Trade Minister, arrive at Vienna Airport to travel to Stockholm where, the following day, they are to sign the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 3 January 1960, as Austria signs the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Austrian daily newspaper Wiener Zeitung reports on the reactions of Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Foreign Minister, and of Fritz Bock, Austrian Trade Minister.

On 4 January 1960, in Stockholm, the Ambassadors or Foreign Ministers of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) which is to enter into force on 3 May 1960.

In his memoirs, Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and Chancellor from 1970 to 1983, recalls the establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 and the negotiations that culminated, on 22 July 1972, in the signing of the cooperation agreements between the European Community and those EFTA Member States that were not applying for accession.

Interactive map showing the seven founder members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960, as well as the subsequent accessions and withdrawals that have determined the present composition of the organisation.

On 4 January 1960, in Stockholm, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 4 January 1960 in Stockholm, Östen Undén, Swedish Foreign Minister, announces the signing of the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 4 January 1960 in Stockholm, Gottlieb Gut, the Swiss Ambassador to Sweden, signs the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 15 January 1960, illustrating the recent establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), British cartoonist David Low speculates on the contradictory economic ambitions of the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) and those of the Seven, ambitions which threaten to make the European market unworkable.

On 3 May 1960, after ratification by the national parliaments of the Seven, the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) officially comes into force in Stockholm.

On 1 March 1970, Iceland officially joins the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). From left to right: Sir John Coulson, Secretary-General of EFTA, Einar Benediktsson, Permanent Representative of Iceland to EFTA, and Gylfi Th. Gíslason, Icelandic Minister for Trade.

In this interview, Georges Berthoin, Head of the Delegation of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and subsequently Head of the Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities in the United Kingdom until 1973, describes the state of relations between General de Gaulle and the leaders of the United Kingdom as France twice rejected, in 1963 and 1967, the opening of negotiations for the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Communities.

In December 1960, Frank Figgures, Secretary General of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), outlines in the French monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique the role that EFTA plays in forming a united Europe.

In December 1965, Jean Lecerf describes relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in the monthly publication Communauté européenne.

On 24 May 1965, (from left to right) Bruno Kreisky, Karl Schleinzer, Josef Klaus and Bruno Pittermann, Austrian Ministers, attend the summit meeting of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Vienna.

On 24 May 1965, the final communiqué issued by the ministerial meeting of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Council in Vienna gives a positive account of EFTA’s activities and calls for a strengthening of its relations with the European Economic Community (EEC).

Table portraying the GNP, imports, exports and balance of trade of the EFTA countries in 1959 and in 1967.

On 8 December 1959, a British Delegation arrives in Washington for talks on the establishment of a free-trade area in Europe.

On 13 December 1959, representatives of the French Foreign Ministry hold talks in Paris with a US Delegation on the establishment of a free-trade area in Europe.

On 24 March 1960, US Under-Secretary of State, Douglas Dillon, holds talks, in Washington, with a delegation representing the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Discussions focus on relations between the Seven and the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 26 April 1960, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the weaknesses of the fledgling European Free Trade Association (EFTA) vis-à-vis the economic weight of the Europe of Six.

‘We’re not ready to meet yet.’ In May 1960, the European Economic Community (EEC), led in this instance by France, and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), led in this instance by the United Kingdom, are still not able to find common ground.

In a report sent to the Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Eugène Schaus, on 19 August 1960, the Luxembourg Permanent Representative ad interim to the European Communities reviews the talks between the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, on relations between EFTA and the EEC.

On 12 October 1960, Olivier Wormser, Director of Economic and Financial Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, writes a note in which he outlines the position of the United Kingdom in the context of economic relations between the Six and the seven Member States of EFTA.

On 3 January 1961, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the difficult relations and dialogue of the deaf between the European Economic Community (EEC), here led by French President Charles de Gaulle, and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 27 February 1961, Edward Heath, Lord Privy Seal, gives an address to the Council of Western European Union (WEU) in which he sets out the British conditions for cooperation between the Six (European Economic Community) and the Seven (European Free Trade Association).

On 4 March 1961, following Franco-British talks in London on relations between the EEC and EFTA, the French Foreign Ministry issues a report to the Ambassadors of the partner countries of the European Communities lambasting the intransigence of the British position.

On 24 April 1961, Gunnar Lange, Swedish Minister for Trade, warns against the economic division of Europe into two blocs and calls for close cooperation at economic level between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 5 June 1961, the Portuguese Government publishes a memorandum in which it gives a progress report on the initial negotiations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), of which Portugal is a member.

‘EEC— a closed community: Softly goes our song’s entreaty.’ In 1962, the Austrian cartoonist, Ironimus, illustrates the gradual movement of some member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) — Austria, Sweden and Switzerland — towards the European Economic Community (EEC).

‘One Europe: two markets.’ In 1962, the cartoonist Fritz Behrendt portrays a European continent whose market is controlled separately by the European Economic Community (EEC) and by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 11 July 1964, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort emphasises the importance of establishing a single market on the European continent and notes the common interests linking the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

On 6 December 1966, commenting on the meeting held in London of representatives from the seven Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the implications that the possible accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities could have for EFTA.

Table showing GNP, imports, exports and balance of trade of the EEC Member States in 1959 and in 1967.

On 11 November 1967, the French daily newspaper Combat describes the reactions of the Nordic members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to the United Kingdom’s application for accession to the European Communities.

On 30 May 1965, during the meeting of the Council of WEU Ministers in Luxembourg, the Six and the United Kingdom review the Wilson Plan which seeks to bring the European Economic Community and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) closer together.

In December 1967, the French monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique focuses on the future of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) following General de Gaulle’s second veto of the United Kingdom’s accession to the Common Market.

In 1966, the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, calls a Ministerial Meeting of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Lancaster House, London, to discuss the United Kingdom’s application for accession to the European Communities.