European parliament committee chair acknowledges both sides face trade barriers amid supply-chain diversification
South Korea and the European Union need closer regulatory alignment to ease trade friction between the two sides, Anna Cavazzini, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection says.
According to Cavazzini, European companies have flagged regulatory barriers ranging from offshore wind and automobile certifications to public procurement and access to South Korea's defense market.
"The more Korea and the EU align on certain standards, the easier and more frictionless trade becomes," Cavazzini said in an interview with The Korea Herald at the EU delegation office in Seoul on Wednesday.
Cavazzini said European wind energy companies have expressed concerns over rules governing vessels used for offshore projects, while automakers have cited certification requirements and access to public procurement and support programs.
European defense companies have also flagged barriers to entering the South Korean market.
Two-way regulatory hurdles
Cavazzini said regulatory barriers affect companies on both sides, with Korean firms also facing hurdles in Europe.
"You always have two sides to the story," she said, adding that regulations should be "reasonable and fair," nondiscriminatory and tied to goals such as consumer protection and climate action.
Seoul has raised concerns over EU measures including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and industrial policies favoring European production.
Many of the issues were technical trade irritants, Cavazzini said.
"They are very nitty-gritty technical things that need to be solved," she said, adding that the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement provided a framework for addressing them.
Bilateral goods trade reached about 124.25 billion euros ($141.5 billion) in 2025, according to the European Commission. The FTA has been in force since 2011.
Seoul has also raised concerns over the EU's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, particularly preferences for European production in some public procurement and support programs.
During her visit to Seoul, Cavazzini met with Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Park Jong-han, Trade Minister Park Jung-sung and other Korean officials to discuss the proposed legislation and economic cooperation.
Korean officials urged the EU to ensure its measures comply with the FTA and do not discriminate against Korean companies, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry. More than 800 Korean companies have invested in Europe, the ministry said.
Diversifying beyond major markets
According to Cavazzini, Seoul and Brussels face a shared challenge in reducing reliance on a small number of markets and suppliers.
"Having too much supply-chain dependency on one or two major big markets is just dangerous," she said.
She cited stockpiling and recycling critical minerals, vital to advanced manufacturing and clean energy, as potential areas of cooperation.
Cavazzini said the EU remained open to foreign companies despite its regulatory requirements.
"Our market is very open, and it's very attractive, but of course you need to comply with our rules," she said.
Similar Korean and EU product standards could help ease regulatory barriers for Korean exporters, she said, citing cosmetics.
"Similar standards can help build consumer trust," she said.
Cavazzini said her delegation met with two Korean defense companies with existing or planned projects in Europe, and that establishing European production bases could give Korean firms access to European manufacturers, expertise and some EU funding.
Asked whether South Korea's focus on trade talks with the United States had made Europe less of a priority, Cavazzini said immediate disputes with Washington needed attention but Europe remained an important market.
"The European Union is an interesting and probably more reliable partner than the US right now," she said.
Expanding in Europe could give Korean companies "one more leg" and reduce reliance on a small number of major markets, she added.
sanjaykumar@heraldcorp.com
