Editing European Free Trade Association (section)

====Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark)====

[[Denmark]] was a founding member of EFTA in 1960, but its membership ended in 1973, when it joined the [[European Communities]]. The [[autonomous territories]] of the [[Danish Realm|Kingdom of Denmark]] were covered by Denmark's EFTA membership: [[Greenland]] from 1961 and the [[Faroe Islands]] from 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.dk/samling/20081/almdel/ugf/bilag/74/657075.pdf|title=Responsum om muligheder for Færøernes tilknytning til EFTA samt for Færøernes og Grønlands tilknytning til EU|language=da|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207093847/https://www.ft.dk/samling/20081/almdel/ugf/bilag/74/657075.pdf|archive-date=7 December 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> In mid-2005, representatives of the [[Faroe Islands]] raised the possibility of their territory re-joining the EFTA.<ref>{{cite news |last=Spongenberg |first=Helena |title=Faroe Islands seek closer EU relations |publisher=EUobserver |date=8 October 2007 |url=http://euobserver.com/9/24907 |access-date=18 July 2009 }}</ref> Because Article 56 of the EFTA Convention only allows sovereign states to become members of the EFTA,<ref name="VaduzConvention"/> the Faroes considered the possibility that the "Kingdom of Denmark in respect of the Faroes" could join the EFTA on their behalf. The Danish Government has stated that this mechanism would not allow the Faroes to become a member of the EEA because Denmark was already a party to the EEA Agreement.<ref name=faroes>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.fo/Files/Billeder/Uttanrikisradid/tekstir/ESfr%C3%A1grei%C3%B0ingEN%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823140509/http://www.mfa.fo/Files/Billeder/Uttanrikisradid/tekstir/ESfr%C3%A1grei%C3%B0ingEN%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-date=23 August 2011|title=The Faroes and the EU - possibilities and challenges in a future relationship|year=2010|publisher=The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Faroes|page=53|access-date=15 August 2013|quote=Under its constitutional status the Faroes cannot become a contracting party to the EEA Agreement in its own right due to the fact that the Faroes are not a state.}}</ref>

The Faroes already have an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland, known as the [[Hoyvík Agreement]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hoyvík Agreement|url=https://www.government.fo/en/foreign-relations/foreign-trade/hoyvik-agreement/|access-date=24 June 2021|website=www.government.fo|language=en}}</ref>