The European Union and Singapore have concluded negotiations on Digital Trade Agreement (DTA). This deal is the first EU agreement of its kind, reflecting the EU’s aspiration to be a global standard-setter for digital trade rules and cross border data flows.
The DTA will complement the 2019 EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, connecting both economies further and benefiting businesses and consumers that want to engage in digital trade.
It will also provide binding rules to:
1. Build customer trust
2. Ensure predictability and legal certainty for businesses
3. Removing and preventing the emergence of unjustified barriers to digital trade
4. Unlock new economic opportunities while ensuring a safe online environment
This deal will boost EU-Singapore trade relations by:
- Facilitating digitally-enabled trade in goods and services;
- Ensuring cross-border data flows free of unjustified barriers;
- Enhancing trust in digital trade, including through strong rules on spam.
This agreement puts the EU and Singapore at the global forefront of digital policy development while upholding open and fair digital economies. It promotes the EU’s approach for building digital and data rules with people and their rights at its core, and it ensures the EU and Singapore preserve policy space to develop and implement the policies required to address new challenges in the digital economy.
The EU-Singapore Partnership
The EU is the world’s leading importer and exporter of digitally deliverable services. In 2022, 55% of total EU trade in services was delivered digitally, representing more than €1.3 trillion of EU imports and exports.
Singapore is by far the EU’s largest trading partner in the Southeast Asian region, with a total bilateral trade in goods of over €53 billion and €52 billion worth of trade in service. More than 10, 000 EU companies are established in Singapore and use it as a hub to serve the entire Pacific region.
Almost half of the total trade in services between the EU and Singapore is already digitally delivered and accounted for 55% of the total EU-Singapore trade in 2022 (worth €43 billion). The EU Singapore Digital Trade Agreement will boost this trade connection and provide further opportunities for growth.
Global Standard-Setter for Digital Trade
EU already has digital agreements as part of trade accords with Britain, Chile and New Zealand, and has a cross-border data flow agreement with Japan, and is in negotiations with South Korea, according to Reuters.
This reflects that EU has aspirations to become a global standard-setter for digital trade and has its focus on Asia-Pacific region.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis and Singapore Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu also discussed ways to strengthen collaboration in forward-looking trade areas including the green economy, exchanged views on regional and global economic developments including at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and agreed to continue working together on shared priorities to strengthen trade and investment links.
