BRUSSELS : The European Union finalized free trade pact with South Korea on Wednesday. The new relationship will open the door for additional trade agreements the EU nations and other countries in Asia. The EU and Malaysia announced the start of free trade talks, while Japan expressed hope it would quickly strike a deal similar to the one South Korea secured with Europe.

The document was signed at a meeting of the EU leadership and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak in Brussels. The meeting also feature an enhancement of the existing relationship to one of strategic partnership.

"This agreement is by far the most important trade deal ever concluded be the European Union with one country and the first free trade deal with an Asian country," said European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

"In the process of overcoming the global economic crisis, there are fears that protectionism will rear its ugly head once again," Lee told a news conference alongside Barroso and EU President Herman Van Rompuy.

Lee also said that the EU-ROK FTA will stimulate sustainable economic growth and expand free trade, despite an air of protectionism prevalent in many parts of the world.

Van Rompuy said the pact "sends a strong signal that trade liberalization is a key element for recovery of the world economy."

To be put into effect, he trade agreement remains to be ratified by the South Korean and European legislative bodies. This is the current state of the KOR-US FTA. When Korea's agreement with the EU meets with the respective legislatures the bilateral trade will double. South Korea will have unfettered entry to the world's largest free trade economy and nearly half a billion waiting consumers.

Italy capitulated against withering pressured to drop their objections, which were based on the idea that it would hurt their auto industry, also a stumbling block for the ROK US agreement. In exchange for their approval, the Italians got a six-month delay in the implementation of the FTA to July 1, 2011.

The Korea - EU FTA will wipe out 98.7 per cent of import taxes within five years and eliminate tariffs over longer periods.

As a part of the deal the EU required a "safeguard" clause to prevent "sudden surges of imports" in some industries, as one might expect, small cars leads the list of protected products.

"Our trade agreement is, I hope, the first in an important series of new generation agreements," Barroso said.