Editorial by Karel De Gucht
European Commissioner for Trade

The global economy has once again entered a phase of uncertainty. Trade is not immune to this development. The EU's latest protectionism monitoring report – a summary of which you will find in this newsletter - highlights concerns over a rise in the number of trade-restrictive measures taken by our trading partners in the last 12 months. It is important that the forthcoming G20 summit in Cannes and the WTO Ministerial at the end of the year provide a clear signal regarding the importance of keeping markets open in times of economic uncertainty.
EU trade policy stands for open markets, both at home and abroad. This is why we launched a very ambitious negotiating agenda to achieve greater market access and better international rules for European exporters. While negotiating agreements with important trading partners such as India, Canada, Mercosur, Ukraine, Singapore and Malaysia, we are working on the implementation of agreements which have already entered into force, such as the one with South Korea.
I have just returned from Seoul where I co-chaired the first EU – South Korea Trade Committee under the new trade agreement. We made good progress to ensure that the agreement delivers real economic benefits for our exporters. We also hosted a conference for European business on 27 October in Brussels where we took stock of the first 100 days of implementation of the agreement. During the conference, we presented our new practical guide available in all EU languages "The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement in practice" for companies wishing to export or invest in Korea.
You will find more details about these and other trade issues in this newsletter, including a report regarding a recent seminar in Washington which brought together EU and US experts for an exchange of best practices for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.
I wish you a good reading.

High-level Conference on the implementation of the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement in Brussels on 27 October
On 27 October 2011, the Commission hosted a high-level conference on the implementation of the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement ("FTA") in Brussels, which is part of the broader effort to promote this Agreement. The seminar's aim was to raise awareness among the economic operators regarding the benefits of this FTA. 
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First EU-South Korea Trade Committee
One hundred days after entry into force of the most ambitious bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) ever negotiated by the EU, the first meeting of the EU-South Korea Trade Committee, co-chaired by South Korea’s Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, took place in Seoul on 11 and 12 October.
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EU concerned over rise in protectionism across G20
On 19 October 2011, the European Commission DG Trade published the 8th Report on potentially trade restrictive measures adopted by third countries in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The report's findings call again for close attention to the recent wave of trade restrictions adopted in particular by emerging economies over the past twelve months.
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EU-US SME Best Practices Workshop, Washington D.C., 13-14 October 2011
The conclusion of the Transatlantic Economic Council ("TEC") of December 2010 to strengthen cooperation on transatlantic SME issues resulted in a second EU-US SME Workshop on best practices that took place on 13-14 October in Washington DC (the first workshop was held in Brussels on 28-29 June, see Market Access Newsletter of July 2011).
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Annual Conference of the Enterprise Europe Network, Warsaw, Poland, 26-28 September 2011
The Enterprise Europe Network ("Network") is a key instrument to support SMEs in their growth and innovation activities (see www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm). The 600 member organisations provide business and innovation support in all EU Member States and 22 non-EU countries.
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Market Access Working Groups…
Latest information on Market Access Working Groups on Tyres, Chemicals, Automotives and Textiles.
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Looking Back…
…On Success Stories
The Market Access Strategy in action. Recent success stories.
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Looking Ahead...
Forthcoming events in Market Access.
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Do you know that…?
Your exports outside the EU are hindered by trade barriers? The European Commission is there to help you.
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