EU trade agreements continue to benefit European businesses

The European Commission published its sixth annual report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements, covering 2025. It said that by end-2025 the EU had 44 preferential trade agreements with 76 countries, representing 46.3% of its external trade; goods trade with these partners grew 3.1%, versus 1.4% with other third countries. In 2025, EU agri-food exports to agreement partners rose 4.6%, while those to non-preferential partners fell 3.6%. In the first 11 months after the EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement entered into force, bilateral trade reached €20.8 billion, up 3% year-on-year.