EU and Singapore signed digital trade agreement

The European Union and Singapore have taken a significant step forward in their bilateral trade relations with the signing of a landmark Digital Trade Agreement. It has been designed to improve consumer protection, facilitate trustworthy cross-border data flows, provide legal certainty for companies wishing to engage in cross-border digital trade, and remove unjustified barriers to digital trade. In its current press release the EU Commission provides further information.

The Digital Trade Agreement (DTA allows the EU and Singapore to keep pace with the fast-evolving nature of the digital economy. It sets a high standard for digital trade rules between the EU and Singapore and raises the ambition of digital trade rules globally. It builds on the EU's approach for digital and data rules that put people and their rights at the center.

The DTA will enhance consumer protection, facilitate trusted cross-border data flows and provide legal certainty for businesses that want to engage in cross-border digital trade, as well as addressing unjustified barriers to digital trade. This includes, for instance, the protection of privacy and personal data, customs duties on electronic transmissions, electronic contracts, electronic authentication and trust services, online consumer trust, unsolicited direct marketing communications, open government data, and regulatory cooperation on digital trade.

Next steps

The EU and Singapore will now follow their respective procedures to work towards ratification of the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement. On the EU's side, the formal ratification of the Agreement will require the consent of the European Parliament.

Source:

European Commission, press release of 7 May 2025.