- Negotiations
In May 2007, the European Union and South Korea started negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement. It took effect on 1 July 2011.
This deal is part of the EU’s post-2006 "Global Europe" strategy to boost the competitiveness of EU corporations in the world by securing deeper commitments to neoliberal policies from trading partners, including expanded rights for European transnationals. In Korea, the European Union is trying to win equal, if not better, footing against US firms after the conclusion of the US-Korea FTA. (The EU makes stronger demands than the US on Korea in the areas of intellectual property, services, competition policy and environmental standards.)
Social movements from both sides mobilised against the deal’s potential impacts. One flashpoint of concern is for Korea’s agricultural sector, where pig farmers in particular are expected to suffer from an influx of subsidised EU pork as a result of this deal.
last update: May 2012
photo: European External Action Service - EEAS/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
21-Jan-2010
EUObserver
Speculation is rife within trade circles that the EU’s free trade agreement with South Korea could be in for a rough time from newly-empowered MEPs who strongly oppose aspects of the deal.
10-Jan-2010
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) calls upon the EU Parliament and member states to remove the intellectual property rights chapter from the EU - Korea Free Trade
Agreement.
20-Oct-2009
The Hankyoreh
According to a draft of the free trade agreement between South Korea and the European Union, once the FTA takes effect, European beef that has a higher risk for mad cow disease than U.S. beef could be allowed into the country.
17-Oct-2009
Investors.com
"For Europe, the deal with Korea was easy. The US had already negotiated a trade pact of its own that was ready to go in 2006. Details of the EU-Korea treaty are nearly identical, so it’s obvious the Europeans just Xeroxed the US-Korea pact and will now walk off with the spoils," write a US business journal.
15-Oct-2009
AFP
The European Union and South Korea on Thursday signed a free trade deal which Brussels said would be worth 19 billion euros (28 billion dollars) in new trade for EU exporters.
8-Oct-2009
A free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union will eventually increase bilateral trade by about 20 percent if it is fully implemented, British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson estimated yesterday.
29-Sep-2009
AFP
European auto manufacturers on Monday urged Brussels not to sign a free trade agreement with South Korea due to be inked over the coming days.
24-Sep-2009
Yonhap
South Korea will develop 100,000 ha of farmland in Tanzania and make inroads into European markets, thanks to the EU-Korean FTA, a state-run rural development corporation said Thursday.
14-Sep-2009
The leaders of South Korea and Italy agreed to expedite a free trade agreement between Seoul and the European Union yesterday in a summit in which culture eclipsed politics.
10-Sep-2009
Xinhua
South Korea and the European Union will initial their bilateral free trade agreement in October as the both sides completed legal reviews of the deal this week, Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Thursday.