On Tuesday 7 March, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and New Zealand's Minister of Trade Todd McClay met in Brussels to mark the end of preparatory talks for a potential EU-New Zealand free trade agreement.
At the end of 2015, the EU and New Zealand launched a process for potential free trade negotiations and preparations for these negotiations began in February 2016 (see EUROPE 11491).
Since then the Commission and New Zealand's administration have undertaken a scoping exercise and examined all the bilateral economic issues in order to define the areas to be covered and the right level of ambition for any future negotiations.
As a next step, the Commission will ask member states for a negotiating mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU on the basis of specific objectives.
Alongside this, the Commission is finalising its assessment of the potential impact of such a trade deal, taking into account the preliminary scope agreed on Tuesday.
"This assessment will take into account new opportunities that an EU-New Zealand trade agreement could create for EU businesses, as well as agricultural sensitivities that need to be accommodated", the Commission states in a press release.
The EU is New Zealand's second biggest trading partner after Australia. According to the most recent figures from the Commission, bilateral trade in goods stood at €8.1 billion in 2016 (including €4.7 billion in exports for the EU) and trade in services stood at €5.3 billion in 2015 (including €2.7 billion in exports for the EU).
At the end of 2015, EU foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks in New Zealand stood at €9.8 billion, while those of New Zealand in the EU stood at €4.5 billion. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)