European Free Trade Association

Turkey is more expensive than a few European countries but it remains cheaper than a majority of the continent, according to a new comparative purchasing power parity index released June 19 by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜ?K).

However, car prices stood above European levels, as did the prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and consumer electronics.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government adopted on Thursday a bill confirming the convention on the joint transit procedure and a bill confirming the convention on the simplification of certain formalities in trade in goods.

BELGRADE - Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council Goran Svilanovic said Thursday that business played a key role in cooperation in the Western Balkans.

Long before politicians, businessmen understood the need to go beyond the national framework in order to keep their business going, Svilanovic said at the fourth Business Plus regional conference in Belgrade.

Iceland is planning to try again to withdraw its application to join the EU, Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has said.

"Participating in EU talks isn't really valid anymore," Gunnlaugsson said as quoted by the Reykjavík Grapevine.

Life expectancy at birth has risen in Greece to reach 80.7 years compared to an EU28 average of 79.2 years, according to a new OECD report.

Bulgaria has the sixth lowest overall taxes for medium-size companies in EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), shows the Paying Taxes 2015 survey of PriceWaterhouseCoopers among 189 economies worldwide.

The total tax rate in Bulgaria is 27%, which ranks it sixth after Croatia (18.8%), Luxembourg (20.2%), Cyprus (23.2%), Ireland (25.9%) and Denmark (26%).

Europe’s car sales rose 4.3 percent in May as volume brands Skoda, Renault and Opel posted stronger growth than premium marques BMW and Audi, according to registrations data published on Tuesday.

Europe’s car market has shown signs of recovery from a six-year slump, but excess production capacity, heavy discounting and incentives continue to distort the true level of demand.

BELGRADE - Trade between Serbia and Switzerland in 2013 saw an annual growth of 18.6 percent and totaled USD 316 million, said participants at a meeting held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) Thursday to celebrate the setting up of a Swiss-Serbian chamber of commerce.