On Monday 13 November, the Council of Ministers of the EU adopted the negotiation mandate proposed by the Commission to update the EU/Chile association agreement of 2002. The first series of talks is scheduled to launch in Brussels on 16 November, and a second series will start in Santiago in early 2018.
This update of the EU/Chile association agreement aims to bring its political dialogue, cooperation ambitions and trade provisions into line with the EU's modern agreements.
An EU/Chile association agreement 2.0 “would add to the recent successful agreements with Canada, Vietnam, Singapore as well as Japan among others, expanding the alliance of partners committed to multilateralism, rule of law and progressive rules of global trade”, the Commission explains.
The update of this agreement will help to deepen EU/Chile relations concerning global challenges, such as the climate change programme and the sustainable development goals for 2030, as well as economic and social cooperation for the effective use of energy, SMEs, youth, education, employment, gender equality and women's empowerment.
As regards trade, the aim will be to graft the missing modern elements onto an agreement that has more than proven its worth in terms of market access: the bilateral trade in goods has doubled between 2003 and 2016, from €7.7 to €15.9 billion; Chilean exports of agri-food products and services to the EU have almost tripled, whilst the EU's exports to Chile have doubled in most areas.
The aim is to extend the agreement to matters such as investment, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights (including geographical indications), and sustainable development.
“The talks that we are now launching aim to put in place a modern trade agreement of the highest calibre, covering all issues - including those that reflect shared values such as sustainable development, helping small and medium-sized enterprises, and efforts against corruption. And for the first time, a trade deal of ours will include common goals on the key role of women in trade”, said the Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström.
At the end of 2016, the EU was Chile's second-largest trade partner (with a share of 14.9% of its total trade), its second-largest import market after China and its third-largest export market after China and the United States.
Bilateral trade has remained stable over the last three years, with the EU registering a trade surplus of €1.2 billion last year.
In 2016, the EU's imports from Chile were dominated by foods and live animals (28%), raw materials - principally copper - (27.2%) and manufactured products (24.3%).
The EU's exports to Chile were dominated by machinery and transport equipment (53.6%), chemical products (14.5%) and manufactured goods (11.7%).
Between 2013 and 2015, the bilateral trade in services saw a slight increase, from €4.7 to €5.8 billion.
The EU is the largest foreign investor in Chile, representing 42.4% of foreign direct investment flows into the country. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)