{"change_dates":[],"dossier":{"amendments":[],"changes":{"2014-11-10T00:09:44":[{"data":[{"body":"EC","commission":[{"Commissioner":"DE GUCHT Karel","DG":{"title":"Trade","url":"http://ec.europa.eu/trade/"}}],"date":"2010-04-09T00:00:00","docs":[{"celexid":"CELEX:52010PC0137:EN","text":["
PURPOSE: the conclusion\n of the free trade agreement between the European Union and its Member States,\n on the one hand, and South Korea, on the other.
PROPOSED ACT:\n Council Decision.
BACKGROUND:\n the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement was adopted according to the objectives defined\n in the Commission’s communication “Global Europe - Competing in the world”,\n which describes how the EU's trade policy can contribute to achieving the European\n strategy for growth and employment. This underlined that the Doha programme\n for development remains the EU’s main priority. The communication also\n stressed the importance for the EU of using the framework provided by the WTO\n as the best way of opening up markets to trade and investment. It proposed a\n series of trade policy initiatives to complement efforts to relaunch WTO\n negotiations. Among these, it proposed the negotiation of carefully selected\n and prioritised free trade agreements (FTAs). Following the adoption of\n negotiating guidelines by the Council, on 23 April 2007, negotiations with\n Korea began in Seoul on 6 May 2007. These were completed with the initialling\n of the FTA, in Brussels, on 15 October 2009, after less than two and a half\n years of discussions. Parliament was kept informed regularly on the progress\n of the discussions by its Committee on International Trade (INTA). On 13\n December 2007, Parliament adopted a resolution on economic and trade relations with Korea, which served as an important contribution to the negotiations.
IMPACT\n ASSESSMENT: in preparation for the negotiations, the Commission undertook and\n impact assessment to examine the potential impact of an FTA with South Korea.\n A more detailed evaluation of the impact of trade on sustainable development,\n examining the potential effects of the agreement in the economic, social and\n environmental fields was carried out in parallel with the negotiations.\n Additional studies, to analyse the FTA from both a quantitative and\n quantitative point of view, were also undertaken.
LEGAL BASE:\n Articles 91, 100(2) and 207, in conjunction with Article 218(6) a) v) of the\n TFEU.
CONTENT: the\n proposal represents the legal instrument enabling the conclusion of the FTA\n between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and South\n Korea, on the other.
The purpose of\n the agreement is to establish a progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade\n in goods and services and to define rules on matters relating to trade.
Commercial\n aspects: the EU-Korea FTA sets down the measures\n needed to establish a free trade area in accordance with the provisions of\n Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994). The\n two parties agreed to implement very rapidly the commitments to liberalise\n and will eliminate 98.7% of customs duties, in trade value, both for the\n industrial sector and for agriculture in the coming five years. The remaining\n customs duties will be eliminated almost entirely over longer transitional\n periods, with the exception of a small number of agricultural products, such\n as rice or garlic.
\n Sectoral Annexes have been negotiated on electronics, motor vehicles and\n their parts, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as chemicals with a\n view to the dismantling of non-tariff barriers.
The FTA\n included the following distinct chapters covering:
Competition\n and commercial compliance aspects: in terms of\n rules, the FTA defines ambitious commitments in the field of competition and,\n in particular:
More ambitious\n restrictive horizontal measures in regard to regulatory transparency in areas\n of importance for mutual trade and investment between the parties were also\n incorporated in the agreement.
Separate\n protocols: the FTA includes various protocols,\n including a protocol on rules of origin and one concerning mutual\n administrative assistance in customs matters, which include provisions\n defining the origin of products - a concept that is used to determine the\n duties applicable to traded products – governing the proof of origin and\n laying down the practical details of cooperation between the customs\n authorities.
It also\n includes a specific protocol on cooperation in the cultural field,\n which defines the terms of a strategic dialogue and cooperation to facilitate\n cultural exchanges.
It also\n provides an institutional framework for implementation independent of that\n provided in the FTA itself , with the creation a separate committee and a\n specific mechanism for dispute resolution.
Trade and\n sustainable development aspects: this section\n covers social and environmental aspects. It includes provisions on\n cooperation and establishes a novel monitoring mechanism involving civil\n society by means of a “forum of civil society”.
Institutional\n aspects: institutional arrangements provide for\n the establishment of the Trade Committee, responsible for overseeing the\n implementation of the FTA and to examine how to further strengthen trade\n relations between the parties. An effective dispute resolution mechanism\n is provided for. The Trade Committee will comprise representatives of the EU\n and Korea. It will report on its activities and those of its committees,\n working groups and other specialized bodies to the Joint Committee\n established by the Framework Agreement. The updated framework agreement,\n coupled with the free trade agreement, reflects a new dimension of relations\n between the EU and Korea. At the request of the Council, the two agreements are\n legally and institutionally linked.
Provisional\n application: until the entry into force, this\n provides for its provisional application.
BUDGETARY\n IMPACT: the proposal has no financial impact on the Union’s expenditure, but has\n a financial impact on its revenues.
\nPURPOSE: the\n conclusion of a free trade agreement between the European Union and its Member States, on the one part, and Korea, on the other.
PROPOSED ACT: on\n 23 April 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade\n agreement with the Republic of Korea, on behalf of the European Union and its\n Member States. Those negotiations have been concluded and the Agreement was\n initialled on 15 October 2009, and signed on behalf of the Union; pending its\n conclusion at a later date. The Agreement applies on a provisional basis.
The Agreement\n now requires approval on behalf of the European Union.
It should be\n noted that the Agreement does not affect the rights of investors of the\n Member States to benefit from any more favourable treatment provided for in\n any agreement related to investment to which a Member State and Korea are\n Parties.
IMPACT\n ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was undertaken.
LEGAL BASE:\n Articles 91, 100(2), 167(3) and 207, in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a)(v)\n of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
CONTENT: with\n this proposal for a Decision, the Free Trade Agreement between the European\n Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Korea, on the other, is hereby\n approved on behalf of the Union.
Specific\n provisions are made regarding:
Measures are\n also provided for in regard to comitology to determine the rules for decisions\n applicable in the areas of cultural cooperation and geographical indications,\n as defined above.
It should be\n noted that the Agreement shall not be construed as conferring rights or\n imposing obligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member\n State courts and tribunals.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATION:\n the proposal has no implications for the EU budget.
\nThe Council discussed a draft decision on\n the signature and provisional application of an agreement with South Korea on\n free trade.
It agreed to return to the issue as soon\n as possible, with a view to enabling the agreement to be signed and a\n proposal for a decision on conclusion of the agreement to be sent to the\n European
Parliament for its consent.
The agreement, initialled on 15 October\n 2009, provides for the progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade in\n goods and services and includes rules on trade-related issues.
\nThe Committee on International\n Trade adopted the report drafted by Robert STURDY (ECR, UK) in which it\n recommends the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of\n the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of\n the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part.
Members consider that this\n Agreement will give substance to the EU's repeated rhetoric of fighting\n protectionism and will lead to fairer trade partnership, shared prosperity\n and mutual development of the two counterparties.
\nThe European\n Parliament adopted by 465 votes to 128, with 19 abstentions, a legislative\n resolution in which it gives its consent to the conclusion of the Free Trade\n Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part,\n and Korea, of the other part.
\nPURPOSE: the conclusion\n of the free trade agreement between the European Union and its Member States,\n on the one hand, and South Korea, on the other.
PROPOSED ACT:\n Council Decision.
BACKGROUND:\n the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement was adopted according to the objectives defined\n in the Commission’s communication “Global Europe - Competing in the world”,\n which describes how the EU's trade policy can contribute to achieving the European\n strategy for growth and employment. This underlined that the Doha programme\n for development remains the EU’s main priority. The communication also\n stressed the importance for the EU of using the framework provided by the WTO\n as the best way of opening up markets to trade and investment. It proposed a\n series of trade policy initiatives to complement efforts to relaunch WTO\n negotiations. Among these, it proposed the negotiation of carefully selected\n and prioritised free trade agreements (FTAs). Following the adoption of\n negotiating guidelines by the Council, on 23 April 2007, negotiations with\n Korea began in Seoul on 6 May 2007. These were completed with the initialling\n of the FTA, in Brussels, on 15 October 2009, after less than two and a half\n years of discussions. Parliament was kept informed regularly on the progress\n of the discussions by its Committee on International Trade (INTA). On 13\n December 2007, Parliament adopted a resolution on economic and trade relations with Korea, which served as an important contribution to the negotiations.
IMPACT\n ASSESSMENT: in preparation for the negotiations, the Commission undertook and\n impact assessment to examine the potential impact of an FTA with South Korea.\n A more detailed evaluation of the impact of trade on sustainable development,\n examining the potential effects of the agreement in the economic, social and\n environmental fields was carried out in parallel with the negotiations.\n Additional studies, to analyse the FTA from both a quantitative and\n quantitative point of view, were also undertaken.
LEGAL BASE:\n Articles 91, 100(2) and 207, in conjunction with Article 218(6) a) v) of the\n TFEU.
CONTENT: the\n proposal represents the legal instrument enabling the conclusion of the FTA\n between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and South\n Korea, on the other.
The purpose of\n the agreement is to establish a progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade\n in goods and services and to define rules on matters relating to trade.
Commercial\n aspects: the EU-Korea FTA sets down the measures\n needed to establish a free trade area in accordance with the provisions of\n Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994). The\n two parties agreed to implement very rapidly the commitments to liberalise\n and will eliminate 98.7% of customs duties, in trade value, both for the\n industrial sector and for agriculture in the coming five years. The remaining\n customs duties will be eliminated almost entirely over longer transitional\n periods, with the exception of a small number of agricultural products, such\n as rice or garlic.
\n Sectoral Annexes have been negotiated on electronics, motor vehicles and\n their parts, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as chemicals with a\n view to the dismantling of non-tariff barriers.
The FTA\n included the following distinct chapters covering:
Competition\n and commercial compliance aspects: in terms of\n rules, the FTA defines ambitious commitments in the field of competition and,\n in particular:
More ambitious\n restrictive horizontal measures in regard to regulatory transparency in areas\n of importance for mutual trade and investment between the parties were also\n incorporated in the agreement.
Separate\n protocols: the FTA includes various protocols,\n including a protocol on rules of origin and one concerning mutual\n administrative assistance in customs matters, which include provisions\n defining the origin of products - a concept that is used to determine the\n duties applicable to traded products – governing the proof of origin and\n laying down the practical details of cooperation between the customs\n authorities.
It also\n includes a specific protocol on cooperation in the cultural field,\n which defines the terms of a strategic dialogue and cooperation to facilitate\n cultural exchanges.
It also\n provides an institutional framework for implementation independent of that\n provided in the FTA itself , with the creation a separate committee and a\n specific mechanism for dispute resolution.
Trade and\n sustainable development aspects: this section\n covers social and environmental aspects. It includes provisions on\n cooperation and establishes a novel monitoring mechanism involving civil\n society by means of a “forum of civil society”.
Institutional\n aspects: institutional arrangements provide for\n the establishment of the Trade Committee, responsible for overseeing the\n implementation of the FTA and to examine how to further strengthen trade\n relations between the parties. An effective dispute resolution mechanism\n is provided for. The Trade Committee will comprise representatives of the EU\n and Korea. It will report on its activities and those of its committees,\n working groups and other specialized bodies to the Joint Committee\n established by the Framework Agreement. The updated framework agreement,\n coupled with the free trade agreement, reflects a new dimension of relations\n between the EU and Korea. At the request of the Council, the two agreements are\n legally and institutionally linked.
Provisional\n application: until the entry into force, this\n provides for its provisional application.
BUDGETARY\n IMPACT: the proposal has no financial impact on the Union’s expenditure, but has\n a financial impact on its revenues.
\nPURPOSE: the\n conclusion of a free trade agreement between the European Union and its Member States, on the one part, and Korea, on the other.
PROPOSED ACT: on\n 23 April 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade\n agreement with the Republic of Korea, on behalf of the European Union and its\n Member States. Those negotiations have been concluded and the Agreement was\n initialled on 15 October 2009, and signed on behalf of the Union; pending its\n conclusion at a later date. The Agreement applies on a provisional basis.
The Agreement\n now requires approval on behalf of the European Union.
It should be\n noted that the Agreement does not affect the rights of investors of the\n Member States to benefit from any more favourable treatment provided for in\n any agreement related to investment to which a Member State and Korea are\n Parties.
IMPACT\n ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was undertaken.
LEGAL BASE:\n Articles 91, 100(2), 167(3) and 207, in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a)(v)\n of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
CONTENT: with\n this proposal for a Decision, the Free Trade Agreement between the European\n Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Korea, on the other, is hereby\n approved on behalf of the Union.
Specific\n provisions are made regarding:
Measures are\n also provided for in regard to comitology to determine the rules for decisions\n applicable in the areas of cultural cooperation and geographical indications,\n as defined above.
It should be\n noted that the Agreement shall not be construed as conferring rights or\n imposing obligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member\n State courts and tribunals.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATION:\n the proposal has no implications for the EU budget.
\nThe Council discussed a draft decision on\n the signature and provisional application of an agreement with South Korea on\n free trade.
It agreed to return to the issue as soon\n as possible, with a view to enabling the agreement to be signed and a\n proposal for a decision on conclusion of the agreement to be sent to the\n European
Parliament for its consent.
The agreement, initialled on 15 October\n 2009, provides for the progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade in\n goods and services and includes rules on trade-related issues.
\nThe Committee on International\n Trade adopted the report drafted by Robert STURDY (ECR, UK) in which it\n recommends the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of\n the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of\n the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part.
Members consider that this\n Agreement will give substance to the EU's repeated rhetoric of fighting\n protectionism and will lead to fairer trade partnership, shared prosperity\n and mutual development of the two counterparties.
\nThe European\n Parliament adopted by 465 votes to 128, with 19 abstentions, a legislative\n resolution in which it gives its consent to the conclusion of the Free Trade\n Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part,\n and Korea, of the other part.
\n