25 years - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1985 - 4 Shilling

The founding of the European Free Trade Association, EFTA for short, was a milestone in the economic integration process that has continued in Western Europe since the end of World War II. The first steps towards trade liberalization after the end of the war took place within the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which was founded in 1948 and comprised sixteen member states. Several years later France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor organization of the European Union. As a kind of economic counterweight the EFTA was founded by the remaining OEEC states. The Agreement establishing the EFTA was signed on 4 January 1960 and entered into force on 3 May 1960. Today, with the rapid progress of European integration, EFTA has been dissolved and almost all former member states have joined the European Union. The brand motif shows the flags of the former full members, the then associated state of Finland and the Principality of Liechtenstein and the "Merkurstab".