5 years of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

5 years of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

Happy 5th EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement!

Here's why we are celebrating: Singapore is the EU's largest trade and investment partner in Southeast Asia; Singapore is the EU's 5th largest trade partner for services; There are 12,000 EU companies in Singapore; 165 EU Geographical Indications are registered in Singapore thanks to the agreement.

Bilateral trade and investment relations between the EU and Singapore are governed by the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement (EUSIPA)

Negotiations for a comprehensive bilateral trade and investment agreement with Singapore began in 2010 and were completed in 2017. The negotiations resulted in the EUSFTA and the EUSIPA.

Key elements of the EUSFTA include the elimination of all remaining tariffs on products while opening new opportunities for service providers in sectors like telecommunications, environmental services, engineering, computing, and maritime transport. The EUSFTA includes ambitious provisions in the field of government procurement, intellectual property (including Geographical Indications), sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs, rules of origin, renewable energies, and sustainable development.

The EUSIPA ensures high levels of investment protection, while allowing the EU and Singapore to regulate public policy objectives like health, safety, and the environment. It creates a modern framework for private and public investments and introduces a balanced Investment Court System for resolving investment disputes. Both agreements were signed on 19 October 2019, making them the first of their kind to have been concluded between the EU and a Southeast Asian country.

In July 2023, the EU and Singapore decided to bring their long-standing and robust economic partnership into the digital domain by launching negotiations on a digital trade agreement (EUSDTA). The agreement aims to build consumer trust, ensure predictability and legal certainty for businesses, and remove and prevent the emergence of unjustified barriers to digital trade. It also ensures that the EU and Singapore preserve policy space to develop and implement the policies required to address new challenges in the digital economy. Negotiations on the EUSDTA were concluded on 25 July 2024.

Together, the EU's three bilateral agreements with Singapore represent important milestones towards greater engagement between the EU and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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