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DRAFT RECOMMENDATION (13083/2025 – C100143/2026 – 2025/0273(NLE))

On the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement on Digital Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Korea

INTA-PR-792164

Committee on International Trade · Rapporteur: Lina Gálvez

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 Sept 2026

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The rapporteur's draft report asks Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement on Digital Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Korea. The agreement sets binding rules on cross-border data flows, a permanent ban on customs duties on electronic transmissions, and recognition of electronic contracts, authentication and signatures. It also covers paperless trading, a single window system, open government data and cross-border interoperability of e-invoicing standards, and safeguards the EU's privacy framework including the GDPR. The rapporteur presents the agreement as complementing the existing free trade agreement and as part of the EU's digital trade strategy with partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Committee position. The rapporteur recommends that the Committee on International Trade give its consent to the conclusion of the Digital Trade Agreement with the Republic of Korea, and the draft resolution gives Parliament's consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

Key points

  1. Parliament gives its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement on Digital Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Korea.
  2. The rapporteur recommends that the Committee on International Trade give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.
  3. The agreement aims to enhance online consumer trust, give legal certainty and predictability to businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and remove unjustified barriers to digital trade.
  4. It lays down provisions enabling cross-border data flows with trust and a permanent ban on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
  5. It recognises the legal validity of electronic contracts, electronic authentication and interoperable electronic signatures.
  6. It facilitates digital trade through paperless trading, a single window system for trade, frameworks for open government data and cross-border interoperability of e-invoicing standards.
  7. It safeguards the EU's legal framework on privacy and personal data protection, including the General Data Protection Regulation, and high standards of consumer protection.
  8. The rapporteur welcomes Korea's advancement on fundamental International Labour Organization Conventions.
  9. The rapporteur states that the agreement aligns with the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the European Economic Security Strategy.
  10. The rapporteur says the agreement underscores the Union's commitment to an open, fair, transparent and rules-based digital economy and reasserts European leadership in defining global digital standards.

Who is affected

  • Businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, gain legal certainty and predictability and fewer barriers to digital trade.
  • Online consumers gain trust through high standards of consumer safety and protection.
  • The EU and the Republic of Korea deepen bilateral economic integration through a dedicated digital trade framework.

Figures and deadlines

  • Trade in services reached EUR 32.9 billion in 2024.
  • Digitally deliverable services represent roughly 25% of all global trade.
  • Negotiations for a standalone digital trade agreement were authorised in June 2023, launched in October 2023, concluded in March 2025 and signed on 16 June 2026.
  • The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement entered into provisional application in 2011 and into full force in 2015.
  • In 2025, South Korea was the EU's 8th largest trading partner worldwide and its 3rd largest in Asia, while the EU ranked as Korea's 3rd largest trading partner.

Legal basis: Articles 207(4), first subparagraph, and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.