EU and Chile sign modern and ambitious trade and political agreements

The EU and Chile have signed an Advanced Framework Agreement and an Interim Trade Agreement to strengthen political cooperation and foster trade and investment.

The signature took place at a meeting between Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell, the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Alberto van Klaveren Stork, the Spanish Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation Nadia Calviño and the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares on behalf of the Spanish Presidency of the Council.

These agreements put in place an ambitious and modern framework to deepen and widen EU-Chile relations. They will create new economic opportunities for both sides while promoting shared values, including substantive commitments and specific provisions on human rights, sustainable trade and gender equality.

Responding to growing geopolitical challenges, the agreements facilitate cooperation between the EU and Chile as like-minded partners on global issues. This includes the de-risking of supply chains, the securing sustainable supply of critical raw materials, and addressing climate change. Such efforts will support the competitiveness of businesses on both sides while advancing the shared goal of achieving a net-zero economy.

These efforts are further underpinned by the Global Gateway Investment Agenda, which includes support for projects such as the development of critical raw materials value chains for lithium and copper, and the production of green hydrogen in Chile.

A stronger political partnership

With this Agreement, Chile becomes the first country in the region to conclude a next generation agreement with the EU, bolstering a renewed ambition in tackling present and future challenges, such as the 2030 Agenda, climate action, state modernisation, sustainable development and gender equality.

The EU and Chile have agreed on a separate Interim Trade Agreement. This is a standalone agreement that replicates the provisions of the Trade and Investment pillar of the Advanced Framework Agreement, with the exception of the Investment protection provisions. The Interim Trade Agreement allows for an early entry into force of the modernised trade rules. It will expire automatically once the Advanced Framework Agreement enters into force.

Next steps

The new Agreements will now be submitted to the European Parliament. Once the Parliament gives it consent, the European Council can adopt the decisions to conclude the agreements. Parts of the Advanced Framework Agreement will come into provisional application (pending ratification by all EU Member States), while the Interim Trade Agreement will come into force when Chile's Congress concludes its ratification procedure.

Background

The EU and Chile concluded an Association Agreement in 2002, which includes a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that entered into force in February 2003 covering EU-Chile trade relations. EU-Chile bilateral trade grew by about 150% between 2002 and 2022.

The EU and Chile engaged in negotiations between 2017 and 2022 to modernise their Agreement. The Parties reached the political conclusion of the negotiations on 9 December 2022.