The Commission welcomes the signing of a free trade agreement between the Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Slovak governments in Krakow on 21 December. The creation of this new area will revitalize trade between the countries involved and boost economic development and stability in Central and Eastern Europe. The agreement drew largely on the Europe Agreements between the EC and Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and marks an important step in the creation of a Europe-wide free trade area as advocated in the Commission's report to the Edinburgh European Council. * * * *
