The European Union's top envoy to Seoul stressed Monday that the world's largest economic bloc is "ready" to put a free trade pact with South Korea into effect "as soon as possible," dismissing the recent backlash from South Korea's opposition parties as an internal matter to be resolved here.

   Time is running short for South Korea as it agreed to implement the FTA signed last year starting on July 1. The European Parliament approved the deal in February but prospects for ratification at South Korea's parliament remain murky amid political disputes over translation errors and possible damage to the country's agricultural sector.

   In its latest show of disapproval, a subcommittee of the National Assembly's foreign affairs and trade committee voted down a related motion on Friday. It is scheduled to be presented to the plenary session on Tuesday for further discussions.

   But it remain unclear whether the National Assembly will be able to sort out issues regarding translation errors in the agreement's Korean-language text and concerns about the FTA's negative impact on local farmers to ratify the FTA within this month.

   "I don't want to comment on your internal procedures, on your political process. This is up to you," Tomasz Kozlowski, ambassador of the EU delegation to Seoul, said at a meeting with reporters. "We are ready, we delivered and we are waiting. Everything depends on your side. We are not part of this process whatsoever."

   "Of course, we would be very happy to implement this FTA as soon as possible. But this is a sovereign decision by Korea," he said.

Stressing the benefits of the deal for both sides, the envoy said the agreement would give South Korean firms a competitive edge over other Asian nations in tapping the "largest market in the world" with 500 million consumers.

   Equally, the trade pact carries special significance for the EU as the "first so deep and comprehensive FTA ever signed with a third country," Kozlowski said.

   "This FTA was signed by two parts, equal partners. Both sides should be ready," he said. "But this is a question of considerations, how you perceive your interests."

   EU studies suggest that bilateral trade with South Korea will more than double in the next 20 years thanks to the FTA. Two-way trade in merchandise amounted to more than 53.5 billion euros (US$77 billion) in 2009, with South Korea enjoying a surplus of some 10.5 billion euros, according to EU data.

   Under the deal, Seoul and Brussels plan to abolish up to 98 percent of custom duties over varying periods of time. Most will be abolished as soon as the FTA enters into force, but about one-third of the duties will be removed within five years. Duties on some agricultural goods, mainly on rice, will not be removed at all.

   Seoul and Washington are also pushing to ratify a bilateral free trade pact after recently revising their terms to address U.S. concerns about South Korea's automotive safety and environmental standards. During a brief visit to Seoul over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying the Obama administration is determined to have the deal ratified by Congress by the end of this year.

   The supplementary Korea-U.S. agreement signed late last year triggered speculation that the EU would also demand a revision of its trade pact with South Korea. Kozlowski ruled out such a possibility.

   "We are a very reliable partner. We negotiated, we agreed and we are not going for any kind of renegotiation," he said.

Source: Yonhap News (April 18, 2011)