EU to Approve S.Korea FTA Albeit Carmaker Opposition

The European Parliament is willing to approve a free trade agreement with South Korea by the end of this year despite intense pressure against it from Europe’s automakers, a legislator said Friday.

South Korea and the European Union concluded an ambitious deal to slash tariffs and other barriers to trade last year, though it remains unsigned and unratified, held up by the need for official translation into over a dozen European languages, approval by EU members states and European lawmakers.

The two sides took a little over two years to strike the deal amid strong opposition from Europe’s automakers angry over the continent’s huge vehicle deficit in vehicle trade with South Korea, home to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.

Christian Ehler, leader of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with North and South Korea, said lawmakers were being subjected to “heavy pressure” from the bloc’s auto industry over the deal.

“The European car makers are parading up and down the floors of the parliament,” he told reporters during a visit to South Korea for talks with lawmakers and government officials.

Ehler, however, said that European lawmakers are committed to approving the agreement.

“We want to make our position clear that the majority leadership, the major parties in the parliament, is willing to get that through parliament” by the end of this year, said Ehler, a member of the European Parliament from Germany. But it will “be a tricky thing to do,” he said.

The deal must be approved by both the European Parliament and South Korea’s National Assembly before it can take effect.

South Korea enjoys a big surplus in vehicle trade with the 27-member EU, home to manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Fiat.

South Korea exported 303,205 vehicles to the EU in 2009 on a customs cleared basis, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. EU automakers, meanwhile, exported 40,097 vehicles to South Korea, according to figures provided by the association.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said last year that it opposed the deal as “unfair” and “not in the interest of Europe’s citizens.”

Imbalance in auto trade has also been a source of contention for the United States in relation to South Korea. The two countries signed a free trade agreement nearly three years ago, but it remains unratified largely over U.S. concerns about South Korea’s bilateral auto surplus.

KELLY OLSEN,AP Business Writer SEOUL, South Korea