EU starts second round talks with S Korea on free trade deal

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BRUSSELS, July 17 (Xinhua): The European Union kicked off the second round talks with South Korea on a free trade deal yesterday, offering totally free market access for South Korean exports on condition of reciprocity.
"The EU has never before taken such an ambitious position in a bilateral free trade negotiation," the 27-nation bloc said in a statement. The EU set the bar high by offering 100 per cent tariff-free market access for South Korean exporters to the EU market if South Korea makes a similarly ambitious offer.
In return the EU is looking for substantial new access to the growing South Korean market in key areas like automobiles, manufactured goods and business services.
The 27-nation bloc also eyes investment opportunities in South Korea, seeking removal of restrictions on EU investors.
The EU took investment as a crucial area for Europe, where no disciplines currently exist under the regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The EU is the biggest investor in South Korea with a total investment of five billion US dollars (3.6 billion euros) last year, accounting for 45 per cent of foreign direct investment inflows to the East Asian country.
Besides tariff, the EU wanted to put a new focus on non-tariff barriers and behind the border issues in South Korea, such as regulations that are unnecessarily complicated and burdensome and which may in some cases present greater obstacles than tariffs.