High-level outreach targeting key European Parliament figures planned for next month

Park Jeong-seong (first from right), head of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's trade negotiation bureau, chairs the kickoff meeting of the public-private joint TF on responding to the EU's Industrial Acceleration Act at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Oct. 15. [Yonhap]
Park Jeong-seong (first from right), head of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's trade negotiation bureau, chairs the kickoff meeting of the public-private joint TF on responding to the EU's Industrial Acceleration Act at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Oct. 15. [Yonhap]

As the European Union moves to implement its Industrial Acceleration Act — dubbed Europe's answer to the US Inflation Reduction Act — next year, a public-private joint task force is stepping up its coordinated response on the ground. Next month, Park Jeong-seong, head of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's trade negotiation bureau, will travel to Brussels, Belgium, for the first time since taking office to conduct high-level outreach with key European Parliament figures.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday it would hold the TF's second meeting at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, to discuss concrete measures for strengthening the joint public-private response framework.

The IAA centers on expanding domestic production of strategic industries by applying European-made product preferences and low-carbon standards to public procurement, subsidies and other public support regimes. Concerns are growing that Korean companies could face discrimination in the European market as a result.

The meeting will share the results of the government's recent outreach to the European Parliament and use those findings to discuss strategies for persuading EU officials going forward.

The TF held its first meeting on Oct. 15. Since then, the government has been working to persuade key EU legislative bodies to ensure Korean companies are not discriminated against during the IAA's legislative process.

On Oct. 20 and 21, Kim Jang-hee, the ministry's director general for new trade strategy support, visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and met with eight lawmakers. At the 14th Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement goods trade committee meeting held Tuesday, Seoul also asked the European Commission to cooperate in ensuring Korean companies are not placed at a disadvantage.

"We will pursue multifaceted outreach targeting key EU legislative bodies to ensure our companies are not discriminated against during the IAA's legislative process," Park said. "In particular, through the public-private joint TF, we will strengthen cooperation among the government, industry, local missions and corporate offices to mount an all-out effort to ensure industry's position is reflected in the EU legislative process."


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