EU en Zuid-Korea evalueren vrijhandelsakkoord (en) - Hoofdinhoud

Brussels, 10 October 2011 - EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht i leaves today for Seoul to co-chair the first meeting of the Trade Committee under the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). During his 3 day visit De Gucht will meet with South Korea's Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, representatives of the local EU business community and the EU Member States. He will also participate in the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, which is regarded as the ‘Davos of Asia’. The Forum brings together opinion and business leaders to discuss the greatest challenges and opportunities the world is facing.

"I wanted to come to South Korea to see for myself how business is better off from this important free trade agreement. This meeting marks the start of a new era in the EU-South Korea trade relations", said Commissioner De Gucht. "Given the economic dynamism in Asia, and especially in South Korea, this FTA brings along considerable opportunities for both sides."

100 days after the EU-South Korea trade deal became operational, the EU-South Korea Trade Committee will discuss the state of play of the implementation of the FTA and how to enhance the EU's and South Korea's cooperation in promoting bilateral trade. International matters such as the Doha negotiations will also be addressed.

In his meeting with the EU business community in South Korea the Commissioner will present an update on the first 100 days of operation of the EU-South Korea FTA. Finally, he will take part in the World Knowledge Forum and, along with other top officials, discuss the future of trade policy as well as the implications of the EU-South Korea FTA on trade relations with other Asian countries.

Background

On 1 July 2011 the EU-South Korea FTA became operational. First reductions of tariffs took effect. Within 5 years from the application of the FTA, 98.7% of duties in bilateral trade value for both industrial and agricultural products will be eliminated. By the end of the transitional periods, duties on almost all products will disappear. Only trade in several agricultural products (e.g. garlic) will not be liberalised. This is the most ambitious trade liberalisation ever achieved in a FTA negotiated by the EU.

On 27 October 2011 the Commission will be hosting a high-level conference on the implementation of the EU-South Korea FTA in Brussels, which is part of the broader effort to promote this Agreement. The aim of the seminar is to raise awareness among the economic operators of the benefits of this FTA.

EU-South Korea goods trade exceeded €66.6 billion in 2010. The EU currently runs a deficit with South Korea in goods trade. However, the trends suggest that due to the significant growth potential of the Korean market and due to the entry into force of the EU-South Korea FTA this deficit will be decreasing. For products like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, industrial machinery, shoes, medical equipment, non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, leather and fur, wood, ceramics and glass, the EU enjoys a solid trade surplus. Similarly, for agricultural products South Korea is one of the more valuable export markets globally for EU farmers, with annual sales of over €1 billion. On services, in 2009 the EU had a surplus with South Korea of €2.1 billion, with exports of €6 billion and imports of €3.9 billion. EU is also the biggest investor in South Korea in cumulative terms with 28.9 billion worth of investment stock in 2009.

For more information on:

EU-South Korea trade:

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/korea/

Ten key benefits of the EU-South Korea FTA:

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/october/tradoc_146695.pdf

The text of the Agreement:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:127:SOM:EN:HTML

Key elements of the agreement: "EU-South Korea FTA quick reading guide":

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/october/tradoc_145203.pdf

Market Access Database - special section on South Korea:

http://madb.europa.eu/mkaccdb2/news.htm

Conference on the implementation of the EU-South Korea FTA (Brussels, 27 October 2011):

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=738

Memo on the EU-South Korea FTA:

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=624&serie=371&langId=en