Brussels, 27 January 2011 – The European automobile industry welcomes the vote, yesterday, by the INTA Committee of the European Parliament in favour of the amended safeguard regulation accompanying the free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea. “The Committee has recognised the legitimate concerns of our industry and ensured important improvements to the safeguard regulation“, said Ivan Hodac, Secretary General of the automotive trade association ACEA.

The agreement on a safeguard mechanism was one of the hurdles that needed to be cleared before the FTA between the EU and South Korea can be finalised and the provisional application enter into force in July next year. Important other issues, as identified in the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council in September 2010, remain the changes negotiated between the United States and Korea in their trade agreement KORUS, as well as the final text of the CO2 legislation for cars that is currently being drafted in South Korea.

ACEA remains very concerned about the impact of the FTA with South Korea on the European manufacturing industry and the European automobile industry in particular. “The amendments enforced by the INTA Committee are another clear sign that improvements to the FTA are possible. We reiterate our call on the EU Institutions to use all room available to achieve a better agreement”, said Hodac.

About ACEA
The European automotive industry is key to the strength and competitiveness of Europe. The ACEA members are BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, FIAT S.p.A., Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, MAN Truck & Bus, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault Group, Scania, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Group. They provide direct employment to more than 2.3 million people and indirectly support another 10 million jobs. Annually, ACEA members invest over €26 billion in R&D, or 5% of turnover.

For further information, please contact Sigrid de Vries, Director Communications ACEA +32 2 738 73 45 or sv@acea.be
Please also visit www.acea.be