EU, Chile Launch Talks to Modernise Trade Deal

The EU and Chile have formally kicked off negotiations to modernise their existing Association Agreement, including its trade component, holding their first round of talks last week in Brussels, Belgium. “A modernised agreement with Chile will further strengthen our already excellent relations and open new areas of cooperation. It will provide us with a state of the art framework to continue championing global peace and security, free and open economies, inclusive societies and the promotion of global common goods,” said Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. According to an official statement announcing the launch, both sides have pledged to be “ambitious and visionary” in order to strike a “progressive and innovative” deal. The Association Agreement , which governs EU-Chile political and economic ties, was signed 15 years ago, and began provisional application the following year. In the years since, bilateral trade in goods had more than doubled, from the initial €7.7 billion in 2003 to €15.9 billion in 2016, according to EU statistics . The 28-nation bloc is the second largest trading partner for the South American coastal nation, with Chile exporting copper, foodstuffs,...