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European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement) Order 2012

My Lords, increasing trade and investment is essential for generating strong, substantial and balanced growth. The United Kingdom has been influential in making sure that trade liberalisation is central to the European Union’s growth strategy. In the absence of a multilateral deal, free trade agreements are the main vehicle for doing this. The European Union is pursuing an ambitious range of free trade agreements across the globe and the European Union’s South Korea Free Trade Agreement is the most ambitious trade agreement ever concluded by the European Union. It will be good for Europe and good for Britain, boosting the United Kingdom’s economy by an estimated £500 million pounds a year. South Korea is the European Union’s fourth largest export market outside Europe, despite the high barriers to trade: industrial tariffs averaged 6.6 per cent, agricultural tariffs averaged 48.5 per cent and there were extensive regulatory barriers. The free trade agreement eliminates the vast majority of these barriers to trade. The agreement will boost growth and create jobs across the economy. It is estimated that the agreement will bring £17 billion of opportunities to European Union goods and services exporters, of which £2 billion will accrue to the United Kingdom. This is why almost all European Union and UK business groups support this agreement. The United Kingdom is well placed to benefit. South Korea is already a valuable trading partner for the United Kingdom. In 2010, bilateral trade was an impressive £6.5 billion. South Korea is the UK’s seventh largest export market in Asia, and in 2009 the United Kingdom was the largest single investor in South Korea, but we want to strengthen this relationship further. The free trade agreement will create opportunities where the United Kingdom has a distinct competitive advantage: in legal and financial services; in ICT, where UK firms can take their world-class technology and cutting-edge designs to South Korea; in automotive components; in whisky; in pharmaceuticals; in aircraft engines; and in low-carbon technology, to name just a few. The agreement will dramatically increase our access to a market of 50 million people, with growing disposable incomes and an appetite for British goods. Following the free trade agreement coming provisionally into force on 1 July 2011, the United Kingdom Government have been working closely with UK businesses and the South Korean Government to ensure that the United Kingdom extracts the full benefit from the deal. BIS and Foreign Office Ministers have hosted a range of events with UK business and the Government of South Korea. UKTI is working hard to promote the deal, including through its report on 100 opportunities for UK companies in Korea. The coming into force of the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement provides the United Kingdom with a tremendous set of opportunities. It will boost UK growth, and create UK jobs through enhanced two-way trade and investment. It will strengthen our strategic relationship with an important global player, and it will lay the ground for future trade agreements between the European Union and other parts of the world. I therefore commend the order to the Committee.