On Tuesday 6 February, the European Commission published 18 initial EU textual proposals as part of the negotiations on the trade section of an updated EU-Chile association agreement. It also published the progress report from the second round of technical level talks that was held in mid-January.
The texts disclosed involve trade in goods, rules of origin, investment and services, public procurement, technical barriers to trade, competition, state-owned enterprises, SMEs, digital trade, energy and raw materials, intellectual property, customs and trade facilitation, dispute settlement, and the fight against corruption.
Launched at the end of 2017, the negotiations to update the EU-Chile association agreement – which was concluded in 2002 and implemented from 2005 – aim to insert updated elements such as investment, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights (including geographical indications) and sustainable development (including gender equality and the empowerment of women).
The second round of talks, held in Santiago in mid-January, enabled "satisfactory progress" in most of the chapters of the future agreement, the Commission states.
The EU Council of Ministers decided on 22 January to publish the negotiating mandate given to the Commission on 13 November 2017 (see EUROPE 11944). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)