More than seven out of 10 European companies are taking advantage of the free trade deal between South Korea and the European Union (EU) to promote their business opportunities, a poll showed Sunday.

According to the survey on 360 major companies in 18 EU member countries, 73.7 percent of the respondents said they are aware the free trade agreement (FTA) went into effect in July 2011, and are taking advantage of it in their business.

In particular, 28.1 percent said they are directly utilizing the deal in their trades with South Korean companies, showed the survey taken by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

The awareness of the South Korea-EU FTA among European companies is far higher than that for the EU's free trade deals with other countries.

Comparable figures were 35 percent for the EU-South Africa FTA, 34.7 percent for the EU-Mexico FTA, and 28.6 percent for the EU-Chile FTA, the survey showed.

According to the findings, the awareness of the South Korea-EU FTA is the highest among carmakers and manufacturers of auto parts with 84.8 percent, followed by apparel makers with 81.8 percent, producers of raw materials with 80.8 percent, drug firms with 76percent, and shipbuilders and ship parts manufacturers with 75 percent.

About 34 percent of the respondents said they have increased imports of South Korean products over the three years since the implementation of the bilateral free trade deal, according to the survey.