Date: 2025-05-08Category: Not ApplicableState: Union GovernmentCountry: Europe
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/880 of 25 February 2025 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/287 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards specific provisions contained in the Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile
Issued by European Commission
· Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security
## Policy Analysis Report: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/880 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/287
**1. Executive Summary:**
This report analyzes Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/880, an amendment to Regulation (EU) 2019/287. The core purpose of this amendment is to incorporate specific provisions of the Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile into the framework of EU Regulation 2019/287 concerning bilateral safeguard clauses. The key finding is that this amendment ensures transparency and legal clarity by explicitly referencing the specific safeguard measures agreed upon with Chile within the EU's regulatory framework. This report is crucial for industries involved in trade between the EU and Chile, as it outlines the conditions under which safeguard measures can be applied.
**2. Introduction:**
This report provides an informative analysis of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/880 based solely on the provided text. The aim is to inform affected parties about the changes introduced by this amendment concerning bilateral safeguard measures between the EU and Chile.
**3. Policy Overview:**
* **Amendment:** This regulation amends Regulation (EU) 2019/287 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
* **Core Objective(s):** The primary objective, as stated in the text, is to ensure transparency and readability by adding provisions related to bilateral safeguard clauses contained in the Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile to the Annex of Regulation (EU) 2019/287.
**4. Background and Rationale:**
The reason for this specific amendment is that the Interim Trade Agreement between the EU and Chile contains specific provisions on bilateral safeguards that are not in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/287. To avoid potential conflicts and ensure legal clarity, these provisions are explicitly referenced in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2019/287. The amendment addresses the need for harmonized application of safeguard measures in the context of the EU-Chile trade relationship.
**5. Key Provisions / Changes:**
The amendment adds text to the Annex of Regulation (EU) 2019/287. This addition specifically concerns bilateral safeguard measures between the EU and Chile. The key elements of the added text, related to specific articles in the Interim Trade Agreement, are:
* **Article 5.9b**: Defines the "transition period" for applying bilateral safeguard measures as either a period of seven years from the date of entry into force of the agreement or the tariff elimination period for a specific good plus two years, if that period exceeds seven years
* **Article 5.10.2bii**: Defines the applicable most-favoured-nation (MFN) customs duty rate.
* **Article 5.11.1c**: Stipulates that a bilateral safeguard measure shall not be applied beyond the expiration of the defined transition period.
* **Article 5.11.2**: Defines the rate of duty that must be applied after the cessation of a bilateral safeguard measure
* **Article 5.11.3**: Establishes that a safeguard measure lasting over a year needs to be progressively liberalized to assist adjustment.
* **Article 5.14**: Restricts the application and reapplication of safeguard measures by dictating certain time restrictions for reapplying, including limitations on simultaneous applications of safeguard measures.
* **Article 5.15**: Outlines specific provisions concerning the application of bilateral safeguard measures to imports into the outermost regions of the European Union (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, St. Martin, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands). It provides a specific definition of "serious deterioration" in that context.
* **Article 5.17.2**: Details the criteria for an application to be considered as being made by the domestic industry.
* **Article 5.18.3a**: Reinforces the need for evidence of injury caused by increased imports because of a reduction or elimination of customs duty under the agreement.
* **Article 5.18.5**: States that investigations have a maximum time limit of 12 months from initiation.
* **Article 5.19.2**: Specifies requirements related to confidential information.
* **Article 5.22**: Allows for the submission of documents in English initially, followed by a translation into the language of the safeguard procedure.
These changes provide greater clarity and specificity on the conditions and limitations surrounding the use of bilateral safeguard measures between the EU and Chile, which were previously not explicitly addressed within the EU's overarching regulatory framework (Regulation 2019/287).
**6. Target Audience and Stakeholders:**
The target audience and stakeholders directly affected by these changes include:
* Businesses involved in trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile, particularly those exporting goods to or importing goods from these regions.
* Industries within the EU and Chile that are vulnerable to increased import competition.
* Producers in the outermost regions of the EU.
* Legal professionals specializing in international trade law.
* The competent investigating authorities involved in safeguard procedures.
**7. Implementation Aspects (Inferred):**
* **Responsible agency/bodies:** The European Commission and the competent investigating authorities of both the EU and Chile are responsible for implementing these changes.
* **Timelines or procedures:** The regulation entered into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (May 8, 2025). Article 5.18.5 indicates a maximum time limit of 12 months for investigations. Article 5.22 outlines a procedure for the submission of documents.
* **Implementation specific to changes:** The key implementation aspect is ensuring that the competent investigating authorities are aware of, and apply, the specific safeguard provisions outlined in the Interim Trade Agreement, as now explicitly referenced in the Annex of Regulation 2019/287.
**8. Expected Outcomes / Impact of Changes:**
The likely intended outcome of these specific changes is to:
* Enhance the legal certainty and predictability for businesses engaged in EU-Chile trade.
* Provide a clear framework for the application of bilateral safeguard measures, reducing the potential for disputes.
* Ensure that safeguard measures are applied fairly and transparently, in accordance with the provisions of the Interim Trade Agreement.
* Streamline safeguard procedures by allowing for initial document submission in English, facilitating participation by interested parties.
**9. Conclusion:**
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/880 represents an important clarification of the rules governing bilateral safeguard measures between the EU and Chile. By incorporating specific provisions from the Interim Trade Agreement into the Annex of Regulation (EU) 2019/287, the amendment ensures that these measures are applied in a transparent and legally sound manner. This amendment is significant for businesses and industries involved in EU-Chile trade, as it provides greater clarity and predictability regarding the conditions under which safeguard measures may be implemented. Affected parties are advised to carefully review the provisions outlined in the amendment and to stay informed about any subsequent implementing measures or decisions by the relevant authorities.
Key Entities Referenced
European Union: A political and economic union of member states located primarily in Europe. Mentioned in the context of trade agreements and regulations.
Republic of Chile: A country in South America. Mentioned in the context of an Interim Trade Agreement with the European Union.
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATIONEU 2025/880: A European Union regulation amending Regulation EU 2019/287. It concerns specific provisions in the Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile.
Regulation EU 2019/287: A European Union regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council implementing bilateral safeguard clauses and other mechanisms allowing for the temporary withdrawal of preferences in certain trade agreements concluded between the European Union and third countries.
European Parliament: A legislative body of the European Union. Mentioned in conjunction with the Council in relation to Regulation EU 2019/287.
Council: An institution of the European Union. Mentioned in conjunction with the European Parliament in relation to Regulation EU 2019/287.
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union: A foundational treaty of the European Union.
Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile: A trade agreement between the European Union and Chile, containing provisions on bilateral safeguards.
Official Journal of the European Union: The official gazette of the European Union, where regulations are published.
Brussels: The location where the regulation was adopted.
Commission: Refers to the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.
Ursula VON DER LEYEN: The President of the European Commission.
GATT 1994: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. Referenced in the context of global safeguard measures.
Safeguards Agreement: An agreement related to safeguards measures, mentioned along with GATT 1994.
Outermost regions of the European Union: Specific territories of EU member states that are geographically distant from Europe. Specific regions are named.
Guadeloupe: An outermost region of the European Union.
French Guiana: An outermost region of the European Union.
Martinique: An outermost region of the European Union.
Runion: An outermost region of the European Union.
Mayotte: An outermost region of the European Union.
St. Martin: An outermost region of the European Union.
Azores: An outermost region of the European Union.
Madeira: An outermost region of the European Union.
Canary Islands: An outermost region of the European Union.
European Council: An institution of the European Union, involved in decisions regarding outermost regions.
Article 355(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union: Legal basis for decisions related to the status of outermost regions.
Chapter Five Trade Remedies, Section C Bilateral Safeguard Measures: Section of the agreement that outlines provisions for bilateral safeguard measures.
Official Journal EN
of the European Union L series
2025/880 8.5.2025
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION(EU) 2025/880
of 25 February 2025
amending Regulation (EU) 2019/287 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards
specific provisions contained in the Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the
Republic of Chile
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/287 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 February 2019
implementing bilateral safeguard clauses and other mechanisms allowing for the temporary withdrawal of preferences in
certain trade agreements concluded between the European Union and third countries(1), and in particular Article 15
thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EU) 2019/287 lays down provisions for the implementation of bilateral safeguard clauses and other
mechanisms allowing for the temporary withdrawal of preferences in certain trade agreements concluded between
the European Union and one or more third countries. The provisions of Regulation (EU) 2019/287 apply without
prejudice to any specific provisions contained in those trade agreements, where such provisions are not in
accordance with that Regulation. Such specific provisions contained in certain trade agreements are listed in the
Annex to Regulation (EU) 2019/287.
(2) The European Union and Chile have concluded an Interim Trade Agreement(2) containing certain provisions on
bilateral safeguards that are not in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/287. Therefore, the Annex to that
Regulation should include references to such provisions.
(3) Accordingly, in order to ensure transparency and readability, these provisions should be added to the Annex to
Regulation (EU) 2019/287,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The text in the Annex to this Regulation is added to the text in the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2019/287.
(1) OJ L 53, 22.2.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/287/oj.
(2) OJ L, 2024/2953, 20.12.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2024/2953/oj.
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/880/oj 1/5EN
OJ L, 8.5.2025
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 25 February 2025.
For the Commission
The President
Ursula VON DER LEYEN
2/5 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/880/ojEN
OJ L, 8.5.2025
ANNEX
‘Interim Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Chile
Date of Application 01/02/2025
Bilateral safeguard clauses and/or
Chapter Five Trade Remedies, Section C Bilateral Safeguard Measures
other mechanisms
Provision(s) contained in the Article 5.9(b)
Agreement
“(b) ‘transition period’ means:
(i) a period of seven years from the date of entry into force of this Agreement; or
(ii) for any good for which the schedule in Annex 2 of the Party applying a
bilateral safeguard measure provides for a tariff elimination period of seven
years, the tariff elimination period for that good plus two years.”
Article 5.10.2(b)(ii)
“(ii) the applied most-favoured-nation rate of customs duty on the good in effect on the
day immediately preceding the date of entry into force of this Agreement.”
Article 5.11.1(c)
“1. A bilateral safeguard measure shall not be applied:
…
(c) beyond the expiration of the transition period as defined in subparagraph (b) of
Article 5.9.”
Article 5.11.2
“2. When a Party ceases to apply a bilateral safeguard measure, the rate of customs
duty shall be the rate that would have been in effect for the good in accordance with
its schedule in Annex 2.”
Article 5.11.3
“3. In order to facilitate adjustment of the industry concerned in a situation where the
expected duration of a bilateral safeguard measure exceeds one year, the Party applying
the measure shall progressively liberalise it at regular intervals during the period of
application.”
Article 5.14.
“1. A Party shall not apply a bilateral safeguard measure as referred to in this Section
to the import of a good that has previously been subject to such a measure, unless a
period of time equal to half of the time during which the safeguard measure was applied
for the immediately preceding period has elapsed. A bilateral safeguard measure that
has been applied more than once on the same good may not be extended by another
two years as provided for in subparagraph (b) of Article 5.11(1).
2. A Party shall not apply, with respect to the same good and during the same
period:
(a) a bilateral safeguard measure or a provisional bilateral safeguard measure under
this Agreement; and
(b) a global safeguard measure pursuant to Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the
Safeguards Agreement.”
Article 5.15
“Outermost regions* of the European Union
1. If any good originating in Chile is being imported into the territory of one or
more of the outermost regions of the European Union in such increased quantities and
under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause serious deterioration in the
economic situation of the outermost region concerned, the European Union, after
having examined alternative solutions, may exceptionally apply bilateral safeguard
measures limited to the territory of the region concerned.
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/880/oj 3/5EN
OJ L, 8.5.2025
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, ‘serious deterioration’ means major difficulties
in a sector of the economy producing like or directly competitive goods. The
determination of serious deterioration shall be based on objective factors, including the
following:
(a) the increase in the volume of imports, in absolute terms or relative to domestic
production and to imports from other sources; and
(b) the effect of the imports referred to in paragraph 1 on the situation of the industry
or economic sector concerned, including on the levels of sales, production,
financial situation and employment.
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, other provisions of this Section applicable to
bilateral safeguard measures are also applicable to any safeguard measures adopted
under this Article. Any reference to ‘serious injury’ in other provisions of this Section
shall be understood as ‘serious deterioration’ when applied in relation to outermost
regions of the European Union.
* On the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the outermost regions of the
European Union are: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte,
St. Martin, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. This Article also applies to a
country or an overseas territory that changes its status into that of an outermost
region by way of a decision of the European Council in accordance with the
procedure set out in Article 355(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union, as from the date of adoption of that decision. In the event that an
outermost region of the European Union, following that procedure, ceases to be an
outermost region, this Article shall cease to be applicable to that country or
overseas territory as from the date of the decision of the European Council in that
regard. The European Union shall notify Chile of any change in the territories
considered as outermost regions of the European Union.”
Article 5.17.2
“2. The application shall be considered to have been made by or on behalf of the
domestic industry if it is supported by domestic producers whose collective output
constitutes more than 50 % of the total domestic production of the like or directly
competitive goods produced by the portion of the domestic industry expressing either
support for or opposition to the application. However, a competent investigating
authority shall not initiate an investigation if the domestic producers expressing
support for the application account for less than 25 % of the total domestic production
of the like or directly competitive goods produced by the domestic industry.”
Article 5.18.3(a)
“(a) evidence of serious injury or threat thereof caused by increased imports of a good
originating in the other Party as a result of the reduction or elimination of a
customs duty under this Agreement; the investigation shall demonstrate, on the
basis of objective evidence, the existence of a causal link between the increased
imports of the good concerned and the serious injury or threat thereof; known
factors other than the increased imports shall also be examined to ensure that the
serious injury or threat thereof caused by those other factors is not attributed to the
increased imports;”
Article 5.18.5
“5. Each Party shall ensure that its competent investigating authority completes any
investigation pursuant to this Article within 12 months of the date of its initiation.”
Article 5.19.2
“2. Interested parties providing confidential information are requested to furnish
non-confidential summaries thereof or, if such parties indicate that the information
cannot be summarised, the reasons therefor. The summaries shall be sufficiently
detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information
submitted in confidence. However, if the competent investigating authority finds that a
request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the interested party concerned is
either unwilling to make the information public or to authorise its disclosure in
generalised or summary form, the competent investigating authority may disregard
such information, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of that authority, in
view of information from appropriate sources, that the information is correct.”
4/5 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/880/ojEN
OJ L, 8.5.2025
Article 5.22
“In order to facilitate the submission of documents in safeguard procedures, the
competent investigating authority of the Party in charge of the procedure shall accept
documents submitted in English by interested parties, provided that those parties
submit later, within a longer deadline set by the competent authority, a translation of
the documents into the language of the safeguard procedure”.’
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/880/oj 5/5