Pressure on Italy to sign South Korea trade deal

Foreign ministers hopeful that Italy will drop its objections to free-trade agreement.

Steven Vanackere, the foreign minister of Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, today said that he hoped to be able to convince Italy to sign a free-trade agreement with South Korea this week.

Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Vanackere said he hoped that the Italian government would agree to sign the deal by Thursday (16 September) when EU leaders hold a summit meeting.

Vanackere said that if Italy dropped its objections, the deal could be formally signed at the EU-South Korea summit on 22 November.

Italy is threatening to delay the agreement with South Korea because of fears that its car industry will be overrun by cheaper Korean imports. All 27 member states and the European Parliament must agree the deal before it can come into force. The Italian government is demanding a delay in the implementation of the accord to give its car sector more time to prepare for the stiffer competition.