The European Union and Singapore agreed terms of a free trade deal on Sunday, a move that should further open the Asian country''s markets for financial services and make it easier for European automakers to export there. "We have finalised the negotiations, and I''m very pleased with the result," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told Reuters by telephone from Singapore.

After the completion of negotiations by the European Commission, the EU executive, member states and the European Parliament need to sign off for the agreement to come into force.

Though EU countries have in the past sometimes rejected such deals for political reasons, this is unlikely to happen with Singapore, as EU leaders in October called for a swift conclusion of negotiations.

Copyright Reuters, 2012