ALDE members on Parliament's trade committee today supported a safeguard mechanism which would attenuate the risk of large influxes of Korean cars as part of the free trade agreement concluded between the EU and South Korea.

"The European Parliament and the automobile industry should be able to better control the activation of the safeguard clause in cases of sudden inflows of Korean cars," stated Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) who is ALDE spokesperson on the agreement.

"This free trade agreement, negotiated in some haste by the European Commission, continues to raise questions, even concerns, and many are wondering whether the asymmetry of advantages for the respective markets of 50 million South Koreans versus 500 million Europeans has been fully taken into account by EU negotiators, especially as concerns the automotive sector," underlined Metin Kazak (MRF, Bulgaria), ALDE coordinator in the Trade committee.

Note to editors:

According to the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament has the right of oversight over EU commercial policy and a veto right on such agreements, albeit without any possibility to amend. Following the conclusion of negotiations with Seoul on 15th October 2009, MEPs indicated that the agreement should not be applied before being voted in plenary which will take place this autumn at the earliest.

For more information, please contact:

Neil Corlett: + 32-2-284 20 77 or + 32-478-78 22 84

e-mail: neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu

Yannick Laude: +32-2-284 31 69 or + 32-495-22 78 37

Web: http://www.alde.eu