43. Considers it necessary to define a European information and promotion strategy that targets markets more precisely and offers products or messages to be highlighted, taking account of free trade agreement negotiations and the most profitable markets in order to avoid the fragmentation and dispersion of funding;

This is the background to the free trade agreement with Korea, which incidentally confused two Commissioners – the Commissioner for Internal Market and Services and the Commissioner for Employment – and some governments.

6. Invites the Commission to assess carefully that the laws and practices of Member States do not infringe the rights conferred on Union citizens by the EC Treaty and the Directive and do not impose an unreasonable burden on Union citizens and their families indirectly restricting their right to free movement, particularly in relation to the notions of "sufficient resources", "unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host State", "(serious/imperative) grounds of public policy and public security", that material and procedural safeguards, protection and judicial redress against expulsions are properly in place and functi ...[+++]oning; recalls that any limitation on the fundamental right to free movement must be interpreted strictly;

6. Invites the Commission to assess carefully that the laws and practices of Member States do not infringe the rights conferred on Union citizens by the EC Treaty and the Directive and do not impose an unreasonable burden on Union citizens and their families indirectly restricting their right to free movement, particularly in relation to the notions of "sufficient resources", "unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host State", "(serious/imperative) grounds of public policy and public security", that material and procedural safeguards, protection and judicial redress against expulsions are properly in place and functi ...[+++]oning; recalls that any limitation on the fundamental right to free movement must be interpreted strictly;

What are the advantages of FTAs? FTAs are economically beneficial, bolstering the EU's presence in dynamic economies and contributing to the overall process of liberalisation worldwide.

While the Commission paper emphasises the need for case-by-case decisions, the overall conclusion is that Free Trade Agreements should carry a political message about the importance the EU attaches to deepening its relations with the partner country, should be ambitious in scope and should always be crafted in the context of the EU's overall external relations policy.