During their meeting in Brussels on 22 May, EU trade ministers are expected to approve negotiating directives with a view to sealing free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
On 22 May, The Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU is aiming to have ministers adopt negotiating directives presented by the European Commission to the Council on 15 September 2017 (see EUROPE 11862) and examined by member states since then, a Bulgarian source confirmed to us on Wednesday 4 April.
In that case, preparatory work will be necessary at expert level during a meeting of the trade policy committee on 4 May, and then at the level of member states’ ambassadors during the Coreper II meeting on 15 May, a Community source confided, saying that discussion on draft mandates had been finalised at technical level.
In a letter to the European Services Forum (ESF) on 26 March, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström states: “We hope to soon receive the Council’s negotiation directives and to rapidly launch both negotiations”.
Malmström says: “The draft directives confirm the EU’s intention to negotiate, with Australia and New Zealand respectively, substantial chapters relating to the trade in services covering both horizontal and sectoral disciplines as well as liberalisations, going beyond the parties’ current WTO commitments and building on their most recent and ambitious negotiations, including TiSA”.
They also confirm that the two free trade agreements will include strong provisions on market access for foreign direct investment in both services and manufacturing sectors, as well as primary industries, customs and trade facilitation, public procurement and state-owned enterprises, the commissioner adds.
The scope of the free trade agreements will not include the protection of investment. However, the EU may decide to negotiate separate investment protection agreements in parallel with Australia and New Zealand, Malmström concludes. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)