The South Korean government has launched an all-out diplomatic push targeting the European Parliament to ensure that South Korean companies face no disadvantages during the legislative process of the European Union's Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA).

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced today (October 22) that a delegation led by Kim Jang-hee, Director-General for New Trade Strategy Support, held consecutive meetings with key members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on October 20-21 (local time).

Director-General Kim met with Martin Hojsík, Vice-President of the European Parliament, as well as core figures from major political groups across the three key committees handling the IAA (IMCO, INTA, and ITRE) to convey South Korea's position.

Kim explained that South Korean companies have long contributed to local production, employment, and supply chain establishment through investments in the region, emphasizing that cooperation with a competitive partner like South Korea aligns with the IAA's goal of strengthening the competitiveness of EU industries.

In this regard, he requested that South Korea be recognized as a reliable partner to prevent South Korean firms from facing discrimination in key industries such as automobiles, nuclear power, steel, and batteries, and asked for the consistent application of the principle of equivalence across all provisions of the IAA, including public procurement and public support.

The core of the IAA is to expand domestic production in strategic industries by applying European-origin and low-carbon criteria to various public support systems such as public procurement and subsidies.

Following the European Commission's release of the draft bill in March, the Council's position and the European Parliament's position were announced in July and September, respectively.

During the legislative discussions, concerns have been growing that protectionist tendencies are strengthening, such as stricter requirements for preferential treatment of domestic goods, which could lead to discrimination against South Korean companies.

Since the release of the IAA draft in March, the government has submitted four government position papers and continued high-level outreach targeting the European Commission, member states, and the European Parliament.

On October 15, the government also launched a public-private joint task force (TF) to strengthen its response system.

"South Korea is a core partner that has contributed to strengthening the EU's industrial competitiveness and supply chains," Kim said. "Centered around the public-private joint TF, we will intensively carry out successive high-level and public-private joint outreach to actively respond so that the positions of our companies are faithfully reflected in the legislative process."
 
(Photo: Getty Images)