EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement | EU-Korea FTA | EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement | Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part

CEFTA [ Central European Free Trade Agreement ]

EU-Korea domestic advisory group | EU-Republic of Korea Domestic Advisory Group

NAFTA [ North American Free Trade Agreement ]

Central European Free Trade Agreement | CEFTA [Abbr.]

Monitoring and reporting on the Implementation and application in both countries of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement and on the implementation and application in Canada, Mexico and the United States of the North American Free Trade Agreement,

Canada - United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act [ An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States of America ]

Canada - Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act [ An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica ]

EUROPA - EU law and publications - EUR-Lex - EUR-Lex - 52017AE2894 - EN - Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement — Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter’ // Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement — Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter’

Past experience has shown that, in the context of the EU-Korea FTA, the consistency and quality of the dialogue between the EU and Korea have been significantly improved thanks to better coordination of the activities of the EU DAG and the EU institutions, as well as coordination between them and other international organisations such as the ILO and the OECD. The EESC recommends that the working methods developed through this inter-institutional cooperation be used in the next period, including by developing new partnerships for relevant activities and projects.

The civil society mechanisms in the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of the EU-Korea FTA have been strengthened continuously over the last five years; representativeness and balanced representation of stakeholders has improved significantly, DAGs both in the EU and in Korea have met regularly, and the annual EU-Korea Civil Society Forum (CSF), bringing together the EU DAG and the Korea DAG, was held for the fifth time in February 2017.

EESC considers that these exemptions, in their nature and their intent, are in breach of the EU-Korea FTA’s Article 13.7 that states ‘[a] Party shall not weaken or reduce the environmental or labour protections afforded in its laws to encourage trade or investment, by waiving or otherwise derogating from, or offering to waive or otherwise derogate from, its laws, regulations or standards, in a manner affecting trade or investment between the Parties’.