European Union free trade agreements

The European Union has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs)[1] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others.[2]

EU Free trade agreements

  European Union

  Agreement in force

  Agreement (in part) provisionally applied

  Agreement signed, but not applied

  Agreement initialed, not signed

  Agreement being negotiated

  Agreement negotiations on hold/suspended

The European Union negotiates free trade deals on behalf of all of its member states, as the member states have granted the EU has an "exclusive competence" to conclude trade agreements. Even so, member states' governments control every step of the process (via the Council of the European Union, whose members are national ministers from each national government).

• Before negotiations start, member states' governments (via the Council of Ministers) approve the negotiating mandate;
• During negotiations, member states' governments are regularly briefed on the progress of negotiations and can update the negotiations mandate or suspend negotiations;
• Upon conclusion of negotiations, member states' governments decide whether the agreement should be signed;
• After approval from the European Parliament and (in case the agreement covers areas other than trade such as investment protection) upon ratification in each member state parliament, member states' governments decide whether the agreement should be concluded and enter into effect.

Trade agreements in force

No	State	No of jurisdictions represented	Signed	Provisional application	In force since	Notes	Relations
1.	Akrotiri and Dhekelia	1	2003		2004[3][lower-alpha 1]	Customs union
2.	Albania	1	2006	2006[lower-alpha 2]	2009[4]	SAA	Negotiating for EU accession
3.	Algeria	1	2002		2005[5]	Euro-mediterranean AA
4.	Andorra	1	1990		1991[6]	Customs union	Andorra–EU relations
5.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	2008	2008[lower-alpha 2]	2015[7]	SAA	Potential candidate for EU accession
6.	Chile	1	2002	2003	2005[8]	AA[9]
7.	Egypt	1	2001		2004[10]	Euro-mediterranean AA
8.	Faroe Islands	1	1996		1997[11]	Autonomous entity of Denmark	Faroe Islands-EU relations
9.	Georgia	1	2014	2014	2016[12]	AA incl DCFTA	Georgia–EU relations
11	Iceland	1	1992		1994[13]	EEA	Iceland–EU relations
13.	Israel	1	1995	1996[lower-alpha 2][14]	2000[15]	Euro-Mediterranean AA	Israel–EU relations
14.	Japan	1	2018[16]		2019[17]	Economic Partnership Agreement [18]	Japan-EU relations
16.	Jordan	1	1997		2002[19]	Euro-Mediterranean AA	Jordan–EU relations
17.	Kosovo	1	2015		2016[20]	SAA	Potential candidate for EU accession
18.	Lebanon	1	2002		2006[21]	Euro-Mediterranean AA	Lebanon–EU relations
19.	Liechtenstein	1	1992		1995[13]	EEA	Liechtenstein–EU relations
20.	Mexico	1	1997		2000[22]	FTA[23][24]	Mexico–EU relations
21.	Moldova	1	2014	2014	2016[25]	Moldova–European Union Association Agreement incl DCFTA	Moldova–EU relations
22.	Monaco	1			1958	Franco-Monegasque Customs Convention (customs union)[26]	Monaco - European Union relations
23.	Montenegro	1	2007	2008[lower-alpha 2]	2010[27]	SAA	Negotiating for EU accession
24.	Morocco	1	1996		2000[28]	Euro-Mediterranean AA	Morocco–EU relations
25.	North Macedonia	1	2001	2001[lower-alpha 2]	2004[29]	SAA	Negotiating for EU accession
26.	Norway	1	1992		1994[13]	EEA	Norway–EU relations
27.	EU's Overseas Countries and Territories	13	2001		2001[30][31]	Association of the OCTs with the EU
28.	Palestinian Authority	1	1997		1997[32]	Euro-Mediterranean AA	Palestine–EU relations
29.	San Marino	1	1991	1992[lower-alpha 3]	2002[33]	Customs union	San Marino–EU relations
30.	Serbia	1	2008	2010[lower-alpha 2]	2013[34]	SAA	Negotiating for EU accession
31.	Singapore	1	2018[35]		2019[36]	FTA[37]
32.	South Africa	1	1999	2000[38]	2004[39]	ATDC[lower-alpha 4]	South Africa–EU relations
33.	South Korea	1	2010	2011	2015[40]	FTA[41]	South Korea–EU relations
34.	Switzerland	1	1972		1973[42]	Trade agreement	Switzerland–EU relations
35.	Tunisia	1	1995		1998[43]	Euro-Mediterranean AA
36.	Turkey	1	1995[lower-alpha 5]		1995[44]	Customs union	EU–Turkey relations
37.	Ukraine	1	2014	2016	2017[45][46]	Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement incl DCFTA	Ukraine–EU relations
38.	Vietnam	1	2019		2020[47]	EVFTA[48]	Vietnam–European Union relations
Total no of countries or territories the EU has trade deals with		55

Agreements provisionally applied

State	Signed	Provisional Application	Ratification	Notes	Relations
CARIFORUM States  Antigua and Barbuda  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Dominica  Dominican Republic  Grenada  Guyana  Jamaica  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Suriname  Trinidad and Tobago  Haiti	2008	2008	35 / 44 [49]	EPA - Croatia acceded to the agreement on 28 November 2017
Eastern and Southern Africa States  Comoros  Madagascar  Mauritius  Seychelles  Zambia[50]  Zimbabwe	2009	2012, 2019	5 / 35 [51]	Interim Agreement for establishing a framework for an EPA
Central America  Costa Rica  Guatemala  Honduras  Nicaragua  Panama  El Salvador	2012	2013	32 / 34 [52]	AA
Côte d'Ivoire	2009	2016	22 / 30 [53]	Stepping Stone EPA
Colombia  Peru	2012[54]	2013	28 / 30 [55]	FTA[56]
Cameroon	2009	2014	21 / 30 [57]	Interim agreement with a view to an EPA
Pacific States  Fiji  Papua New Guinea  Samoa  Solomon Islands	2009	2009, 2014, 2018, 2020	4 / 5 [58]	Interim Partnership Agreement
South African Development Community members  Botswana  Lesotho  Mozambique  Namibia  South Africa  Swaziland	2016	2016	17 / 35 [59]	Economic Partnership Agreement
Ghana	2016	2016[60]	7 / 30 [60]	Stepping Stone EPA
Ecuador	2016[61]	2017[62]	26 / 32 [63]	Accession to EU-Peru-Colombia Free Trade Agreement[64]
Canada	2016	2017[65]	16 / 30 [66]	Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement[67]
United Kingdom[lower-alpha 6]	2020	2021[68]	0 / 3 [69]	EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Agreements finalised (negotiations concluded, but not signed)

State	Negotiations Concluded	Signed	Provisional Application	Ratification	Notes
West Africa  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cabo Verde  Côte d'Ivoire  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Niger  Nigeria  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Togo	6 February 2014	Signed by 15 out of 16 West African partner countries and the EU[70]			Economic Partnership Agreement[71][72]
Eastern African Community members  Burundi  Kenya  Rwanda  Tanzania  Uganda	16 October 2014	Signed by 2 out of 5 East African partner countries and the EU[73]	Ratified by  Rwanda and  Kenya		Economic Partnership Agreement[74]
Mercosur  Argentina  Brazil  Paraguay  Uruguay	28 June 2019[75]	No			European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement. Part of an Association Agreement.

Negotiating new agreements

State	New agreement being negotiated	Status
Australia	Australia Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2018[76]
Andorra	European Union Association Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2015[77]
China	EU-China investment agreement	Negotiations launched in 2013 [76]
Indonesia	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2016[76]
New Zealand	New Zealand Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2018[76]
Morocco	Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area	Negotiations started in 2014[78]
Philippines	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2015[76]
Tunisia	Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area	Negotiations launched in 2015[79]
Tonga	Economic Partnership Agreements as part of the Pacific States Interim Partnership Agreement	Informed the EU of its intention to accede to the EPA. [80]
San Marino	European Union Association Agreement	Negotiations launched in 2015[77]

Negotiations on hold

Country or bloc	Agreement being negotiated	Status
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf States  Bahrain  Kuwait  Oman  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations started in 1990, suspended since 2008[81]
Central Africa  Central African Republic  Chad  Republic of Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  Democratic Republic of Congo  São Tomé and Principe	Economic Partnership Agreement	Negotiations started in 2003, paused until further notice in 2011[81]
Eastern and Southern Africa States  Ethiopia  Djibouti  Malawi  Somalia  Sudan  Zambia	Economic Partnership Agreement	Negotiations started in 2004, paused until further notice in 2011[81]
India	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations started in 2007, last round in 2013[81]
Malaysia	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations started in 2010, paused since 2012[81]
Myanmar	Investment protection agreement	Negotiations launched in 2015[81]
Thailand	Free Trade Agreement	Negotiations started in 2013, no negotiations scheduled since 2014 [81]
United States	Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership	Negotiations started in 2013, paused until further notice in 2016[81]

Competence

The European Court of Justice has held that investor-state Arbitration provisions (including a dedicated tribunal planned by some free trade agreements) falls under competency shared between European Union and its member states and that for this reason, their ratification should be approved by the EU as well as by each of the 28 states.[82]

Impact

One study found that the trade agreements that the EU implemented over the period 1993-2013 "lowered quality-adjusted prices by close to 7%."[83]

See also

• Economic Partnership Agreements
• EU-ACP
• EUR.1 movement certificate
• Euro-Mediterranean free trade area
• European Union Association Agreement
• Everything but Arms
• Free trade area
• Free trade areas in Europe
• List of bilateral free trade agreements
• List of free trade agreements
• List of the largest trading partners of the European Union
• Trade deal negotiation between the UK and EU (2020)
• Trade defence instrument
• United States free trade agreements

Notes

1. From 2021 under the provisions of the Brexit withdrawal agreement (Protocol relating to the sovereign base areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Cyprus)
2. Entry into force of Interim Agreement
3. Interim Agreement
4. Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation
5. Decision of the EC-Turkey Association Council
6. Includes Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man with regards to trade in goods and fisheries

References

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3. Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded - Protocol No 3 on the sovereign base areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Cyprus
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31. "Council Decision 2001/822/EC of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community". EUR-Lex. 27 November 2001.
32. "Euro-Mediterranean Interim Association Agreement on Trade and Cooperation between the European Community, of the one part, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
33. "Agreement on Cooperation and Customs Union between the European Economic Community and the Republic of San Marino". Retrieved 29 October 2015.
34. "Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, of the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
35. "Singapore, EU ink landmark free trade agreement". www.channelnewsasia.com. Retrieved 21 December 2018. [...] the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) was signed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council president Donald Tusk and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. [...] The leaders also witnessed the signing of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (EUSIPA) – a pact that will replace 12 existing bilateral investment treaties between Singapore and EU member states to offer better investment protection – and the EU-Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (ESPCA).
36. "Council Decision on the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore". [...] the Agreement should enter into force on 21 November 2019 in agreement with the Singaporean side
37. "Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
38. "Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the Community and South Africa, which provides for the provisional application of a portion of the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, on the other part". Retrieved 28 October 2015.
39. "Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, on the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
40. "Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
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44. Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995 on implementing the final phase of the Customs Union
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46. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/treaties-agreements/agreement/?id=2014045
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49. "Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
50. Did not sign
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54. EU signs FTA
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56. EU FTA agreements with Colombia and Central America became effective August first
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66. "Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada, of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part". Agreements Database, Council of the European Union.
67. "In Focus: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement".
68. "EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Council adopts decision on the signing". Consilium. 29 December 2020.
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70. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEX-18-5867_en.htm
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75. "EU and Mercosur agree huge trade deal after 20-year talks". BBC News. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
76. "Agreements being negotiated". European Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
77. "RECORDED HRVP Federica MOGHERINI host the ceremony on the occasion of the launching of the Association Agreement(s) negotiations with the Principality of Andorra, the Principality of Monaco and the Republic of San Marino". European Commission. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
78. "Countries and regions: Morocco". European Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
79. "Countries and regions: Tunisia". European Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
80. "Agreements being negotiated". European Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
81. "Agreements on hold". European Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
82. http://www.ouest-france.fr/economie/ue-pas-de-traite-commercial-sans-l-accord-des-parlements-nationaux-4994855
83. Berlingieri, Giuseppe; Breinlich, Holger; Dhingra, Swati (12 March 2018). "The consumer benefits of trade agreements: Evidence from the EU trade policy". VoxEU.org. Retrieved 12 March 2018.

External links

• Free Trade Agreements, EU Trade Helpdesk, European Commission
• Trade Flows, Animated infographics, European Parliamentary Research Service
• Articles on EU FTAs, at Agritrade
• The Transatlantic Colossus: Global Contributions to Broaden the Debate on the EU-US Free Trade Agreement A collaborative publication with over 20 articles on the global implications of the TAFTA | TTIP
• Koeth, Wolfgang (8 December 2014) "The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements: an Appropriate Response by the EU to the Challenges in its Neighbourhood"?