EU-Chile FTA negotiations
20 May 2004
The successful conclusion of trade negotiations
with Chile were announced by Commissioner Lamy on April 26th. While
details of the agreement were not released, since it still has to
undergo the various approval processes, it was announced that the
agreement covered all area of trade relations and went 'well beyond
our respective WTO commitments'. The trade in goods component of
the agreement did however cover all sectors including agricultural
and fisheries products. The agreement also included a 'fully fledged
free trade agreement in services', an investment agreement, a wines
and spirits agreement, an ambitious and very wide agreement on public
procurement, and a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. It also
included rules on competition, intellectual property and an ambitious
agenda for trade facilitation.
Editorial comment
The areas covered by the EU-Chile agreement are all areas flagged
for negotiations under the EU negotiating directives for the forthcoming
ACP-EU EPA negotiations. Close consideration of the scope of the
EU-Chile agreement will provide valuable insights into the likely
EU approach to the forthcoming EPA negotiations.