The European Union and South Korea have decided to organised a specialist working group in 2018 to tackle terrorism, announced the European External Action Service on Saturday 16 December, following the 14th meeting of the joint committee in Brussels on 15 December.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed options for greater cooperation via the framework agreement allowing South Korea to participate in EU crisis management operations.
The EEAS says that the urgent question of tackling climate change was identified as an area of strength and cooperation for the definition of tangible proposals, and that a working group on energy, the environment and climate change would be set up in 2018.
South Korea and the EU will soon organise social dialogue, explains the EEAS, following discussions on research and innovation, culture, education, research and mobility, employment, social affairs and data protection. The EEAS explains that ways of maximising the existing potential have been identified along with new domains of joint work and tangible results are expected in the next summit in Brussels in 2018. The EEAS announced that work was underway to enable the Commission to determine whether South Korea provides high enough data protection standards in order to facilitate the flow of data with the EU.
The EU and South Korea will review major aspects of implementation of the free trade agreement, in preparation for talks at ministerial level at the EU South Korea trade summit in January in Brussels.
Finally, the delegations discussed in detail an EU list of noncooperative fiscal jurisdictions, and the EU spelt out measures that South Korea needs to take to be transferred from the black list to the grey list as soon as possible, which implies that measures will have been taken to respond to the EU’s concerns (see EUROPE 11919). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)