Brussels, 05/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht does not consider it necessary, at this stage, to activate the safeguard clause for the car industry, as Paris would like.
Under pressure from its car makers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault, France this summer called for imports of South Korean cars onto the European market to be kept under close surveillance, as it suspects imports have surged one year after the implementation, on 1 July 2011, of the EU/south Korea free trade agreement. Its request to activate a safeguard clause in the EU-South Korea free trade agreement may not, however, be followed up.
“We are investigating this, but what the French are claiming is simply not true”, explained Karel De Gucht, speaking during an interview with the German DPA agency, on Wednesday 3 October. “Prima facie, there is very little if no evidence for” a massive rise in South Korean car exports, the commissioner stressed, underlining the fact that many South Korean cars are assembled not in the countries of Asia but in Europe. De Gucht defended the free trade agreement with South Korea, noting that it has led to the EU's trade deficit going down “considerably”.
According to the European Commission's figures, imports of South Korean cars into the EU increased 17% between July 2011 and March 2012, a value of €600 million. At the same time, the number of South Korean cars imported into the EU in 2011 was only half of what it was in 2007. (EH/transl.jl)