欧盟贸易专员卡雷尔·德古赫特、代表欧盟理事会主席的比利时外交部长史蒂文·瓦纳克尔和韩国贸易部长金钟勋签署了欧盟与韩国之间的自由贸易协定（FTA） .这个自由贸易协定是欧盟有史以来最雄心勃勃的贸易协定，也是第一个与亚洲国家达成的贸易协定。签署标志着在实施道路上迈出了重要一步，并且是在布鲁塞尔举行的欧盟-韩国峰会的主要活动之一。
“The agreement between the EU and South Korea marks a significant achievement in improving our trade links,” says Commissioner De Gucht. “It will provide a real boost to jobs and growth in Europe at this critical time. This wide-ranging and innovative deal is a benchmark for what we want to achieve in other trade agreements. Tackling the more difficult nontariff barriers to international commerce can cut the costs of doing business as much if not more than getting rid of import duties.”
The text of the FTA was initialled between the European Commission and South Korea on 15 October 2009. Since then the text of the Agreement was translated into Korean and 21 EU languages. All EU Member States have signed the FTA ahead of today’s official signing ceremony.
临时适用日期为 2011 年 7 月 1 日，前提是欧洲议会已同意自由贸易协定，并且欧洲议会和理事会实施欧盟-韩国自由贸易协定双边保障条款的条例已经到位。欧盟成员国也必须根据自己的法律和程序批准该协议。
One study estimates that the deal will create new trade in good and services worth €19.1 billion for the EU; another study calculates that it will more than double the bilateral EU-South Korea trade in the next 20 years compared to a scenario without the FTA. The agreement will remove virtually all import duties between the two economies as well as many non-tariff barriers. It will relieve EU exporters of industrial and agricultural goods to South Korea from paying tariffs. Once the duties are fully eliminated, EU exporters will save € 1.6 billion annually. Half of these savings will be applicable already on the day of the entry into force of the Agreement.
自由贸易协定还将在服务和投资领域创造新的市场准入，并将在知识产权、采购、竞争政策和贸易以及可持续发展等领域取得重大进展。