South Koreas Free Trade Agreements with the EU and EFTA: How Do They Compare?

Given the years of deadlock over the Doha Agenda, many WTO Members have actively engaged in bilateral negotiations to advance their goals of mutual liberalization. The European Union and the four EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) are no exception to this development and indeed are most active in pursuing their trade and related interests through bilateral Free Trade Agreements with key trading partners. The most ambitious Free Trade Agreements concluded so far by the European Union and EFTA are both with South Korea. This article describes the key features of both Agreements. It examines how they compare and to what extent they achieve their objectives.