Strasbourg, 17/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Under the bilateral free-trade agreement ratified by the European Parliament on Thursday 17 February, the EU and South Korea will get rid of nearly 98% of customs duties imposed by each on goods from the other entering their territory, as of 1st July this year. Having obtained guarantees for EU industry and a solid safeguard clause, and then received reassurances from Seoul over the new South Korean law on emissions of CO2 from vehicles, the European Parliament gave its blessing, on 17 February, to the most ambitious bilateral agreement ever concluded by the EU, which will double trade between the EU27 and their fourth-largest trade partner in the medium-term. In Strasbourg on Thursday, MEPs adopted the reports by UK member Robert Sturdy (ECR) on the agreement as a whole - by 465 votes in favour, 128 against and 19 abstentions - and by Spain's Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EPP) on the safeguard clause - by 495 votes in favour, 16 against and 75 abstentions. The two reports received the favourable votes of the international trade committee on 26 January (EUROPE 10302) and 7 February respectively.
This agreement, which covers public procurement, intellectual property, employment rules and environmental issues as well as agricultural products, industrial products and services, will provide the EU with new commercial outlets for its goods and services, of an estimated value of €1.9 billion a year, plus an annual saving in customs duty of €1.6 billion for European exporters. The main gains will be for small and medium-sized enterprises in the automotive, retail electronic goods and textiles sectors.
Under the agreement, the duty of 8% on European cars exported to South Korea will be removed. This represents a saving of €2,000 in duty for every vehicle of a value of €25,000 exported to this market. European car builders will also be able to sell cars which have been produced in line with EU specifications on the South Korean market, without having to cover the costs of putting them through additional tests.
Additionally, the agreement sets in place a monitoring committee, to prevent any disguised protectionism in the form of new technical barriers to trade, for example by means of the new South Korean technical rules, particularly those on CO2 emissions standards. (E.H./transl.fl)