Free Trade Negotiations Between the EU and Australia Stall

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Facts

  • Australia and the European Union are unlikely to reach a free trade deal for several years after Canberra rejected the EU's latest proposals, according to Australian government ministers. Australia hoped to remove tariffs on its agricultural products while Europe wanted greater access to Australia’s 'critical minerals.'1
  • Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said the two parties held last-chance negotiations in Osaka, Japan while a meeting of G7 trade ministers took place. However, in a video statement Sunday, Farrell said. 'Unfortunately, we have not been able to make progress.'2
  • The two sides have been discussing a free trade agreement since 2018 and have long struggled over access to Australian beef and other products, and Australia has maintained it will only agree to a deal that benefits its agricultural sector. Agricultural Minister Murray Watt says the EU hasn't budged from the offer it proposed three months ago.3
  • In July, negotiations fell apart after Farrell left Brussels without an agreement. The trade minister said that Australia would either break off negotiations or take a break before resuming talks; after the EU’s offer remained roughly the same, Farrell said all talks would be frozen and negotiations may not resume for several years.4
  • Meanwhile, EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc made an offer that 'presented a commercially meaningful agricultural market access offer to Australia,' but added that Australia did not 'engage on the basis of previously identified landing zones.'5
  • Australian farmers applauded the government's decision to not sign a so-called 'dud deal' that would put Aussie farms at a disadvantage to competitors in New Zealand, Canada, and South America. Last year, the EU signed a trade deal with New Zealand that allowed more beef, lamb, cheese, and butter into Europe.5

Sources: 1CNN, 2Politico, 3The Guardian, 4The Sydney Morning Herald and 5Reuters.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Euronews. The EU and Australia finally seemed destined to reach a free trade agreement after five years of arduous negotiations until the Canberra's trade minister came with last-minute demands that sank the deal. It's an unfortunate result for all parties involved, and the EU tried its best to grant Australian farmers competitive access to European markets. However, all the hard work from previous negotiations was for naught, and it may take years for talks to resume. The EU did all it could to strike a fair deal, but Australia kept moving the goalposts.
  • Narrative B, as provided by National Farmers' Federation. Kudos to the Australian government, for putting Aussie agriculture first in trade negotiations with the EU. Europe was unwilling to put a commercially meaningful offer on the table, and it would have put Australian farmers behind their competitors in other countries. While there's often pressure to make important trade agreements, it's more important to look out for national industry and workers, and Australian leaders did just that. Hopefully, the EU can return with more fair offers that benefit Australia's fine farmers.