EU-Chile FTA negotiations

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. 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.