Brussels, 20/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European motor industry fears it could be damaged by an unbalanced free-trade deal between the Union and South Korea given Seoul's reluctance to open up its automotive markets. As Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is set to receive the Council's go-ahead on Monday for beginning talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Hyun-Chong, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) - whose members include Renault, Peugeot, Daimler Chrysler, Fiat, Volkswagen, Scania, BMW, Porsche and Volvo - has expressed its concern in a letter addressed to the 27 EU trade ministers. “Korea is clearly not a priority for the European automotive industry and the current mandate (Ed.: to be granted to the Commission by the Council) contradicts our interest”, ACEA stresses, denouncing the many South Korean trade barriers that hinder imports of foreign cars to a market dominated by local manufacturers such as Hyundai and Kia. “No foreign automobile manufacturer ... has been able so far to achieve a significant market share. Furthermore, Korean manufacturers are exporting massive volumes to the EU (market which) is 15 times bigger than their own”, ACEA continues, saying the Union should not begin talks with South Korea unless the Asian countries (Ed.: the Union also envisages negotiation of an FTA with the ASEAN bloc) agree to remove all non-tariff barriers, allowing the import of EU cars that meet international standards without testing, and other conditions. “The competitiveness of the European automotive industry will be jeopardised if the EU opens its market unilaterally to Korean products. In the present situation a win-win agreement is highly questionable”, ACEA concludes. (eh)