On Monday 10 March, the European Union announced that it had concluded negotiations for a Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) with South Korea, establishing common rules for the two economies.
The negotiations were opened just over a year ago, in October 2023, in the margins of the 11th meeting of the EU-South Korea Trade Committee (see EUROPE 13284/21). The provisions of the agreement cover cross-border data flows, protection of privacy and personal data, customs duties on electronic transmissions, electronic contracting, authentication and trust services, source code protection, unsolicited direct marketing communications, open government data and regulatory cooperation on digital trade.
Digital trade accounts for around 25% of all international trade and 54% of total trade in services in the EU, totalling €1.3 billion in 2022.
“Today's agreement with the Republic of Korea is an important step, along with the similar agreement with Singapore that we hope to sign in the coming months ,” said European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič at a press conference. “It is in our interest to continue to work in partnership with like-minded countries to establish global standards for digital trade rules and cross-border data flows.”
The agreement must now be sent to the EU Council and Parliament for approval before coming into force. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)