On Monday 26 June, the European Parliament's Research Service published a briefing on the EU-Singapore free trade agreement. This agreement was concluded in December 2012 (see EUROPE 10753), then in October 2014 after finalisation of its chapter on investment (see EUROPE 11179).
The EU-Singapore agreement is the second free trade agreement concluded by the EU with an Asian economy – the first being that with South Korea, which was concluded in 2009. It is also the first free trade agreement to be concluded by the EU with a country from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Furthermore, the EU-Singapore agreement is the first comprehensive free trade agreement negotiated and finalised by the EU since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.
As a new generation trade agreement, it will go further in many aspects than the current WTO commitments.
The EU-Singapore free trade agreement still has to be signed and ratified. It formed the subject of a European Court of Justice opinion on the allocation of competences between the EU and its member states for its conclusion and ratification (see EUROPE 11789).
The European Parliament rapporteur for this agreement is David Martin (S&D, UK).
The briefing can be consulted at: http://bit.ly/2u6CxR7. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)