Brussels, 14/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 September, the day after Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson took stock of the state of progress on the major trade policy dossiers (EUROPE 9500), David O'Sullivan, Director General of DG Trade at the European Commission, briefed the members of the European Parliament's international trade committee (INTA) on progress made in talks initiated this spring on bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs) between the EU and ASEAN, South Korea and India.
ASEAN - Launched on 4 May this year, talks remain perturbed by the fact that the “definitive format of the agreement is not always clear”. Negotiators remain faced with the problem that ASEAN does not form a homogenous zone of countries in terms of economic development, the South East Asian bloc being formed of seven developing countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and three lesser advanced countries (Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos). They must, moreover, deal with the thorny question of Burma/Myanmar, a country with which the EU does not wish to negotiate given the repeated human rights violations there by the Burmese military junta. Early May, Commissioner Mandelson had agreed with ASEAN trade ministers on a compromise solution allowing talks to be set in motion (EUROPE 9420 and 9441). After a meeting on 19-20 July, the joint negotiating committee set up in May is to meet again in Singapore on 22-23 October, and then again on 22 November. Speaking before the members of the INTA committee, David O'Sullivan stressed the “somewhat ambivalent” attitude of the ASEAN countries that are also keen to work on concluding FTAs with other partners such as Australia, China, South Korea and India.
South Korea - After the first two discussion sessions from 6-11 May and then 16-20 July (EUROPE 9421, 9427 and 9469), European and South Korean negotiators will meet again from 17-21 September. According to David O'Sullivan, “negotiations had a promising start”. Nonetheless, in July this year, the Commission called on Seoul to review its offer upward (EUROPE 9474) - a revised offer that is insufficient at this stage in the eyes of Commissioner Mandelson who, at a conference in Brussels this week, said that, for now, he was “disappointed” by the South Korean approach in these talks.
India - After a first discussion session at the end of the month of June (EUROPE 9457), the European and Indian discussion partners are to meet again during the first week of October. “India has declared its ambition to conclude talks by December 2008”, in advance of elections in 2009, O'Sullivan said speaking before the members of the INTA committee. “This is certainly ambitious”, he said. It is known that the complex nature of the federal structure and the weight of red tape in India, as well as the differences between the Union and India when it comes to standards and regulation, could make negotiations last longer than the two years initially hoped for by the two parties. “We are ready to work to a fast timetable but need to ensure quality”, concluded Mr O'Sullivan. (eh)