At the dawn of a new year, where does the EU stand in its trade negotiations? If, at the appeal of the European chancelleries, the Commission now intends to give a new twist to its trade policy by refocusing on the implementation of its free trade agreements, there are still many areas for negotiation. An overview at the beginning of the year and the latest developments.
Australia: Since the start of talks in mid-2018, negotiations have continued at a steady pace. The Commission has submitted textual proposals on the main chapters of the future agreement, which will be discussed at the sixth round of talks in February 2020 in Canberra. Talks have now entered a more political phase, with sensitive issues now on the table, such as access for Australian agricultural products in the EU, reciprocity for European industrial products in Australia and, above all, geographical indications (GIs). Historical users of European names for their agri-food products, the 'Aussies' are very hostile to GIs, particularly for 'Prosecco'. On 13 January, the Australian press reported on an initiative by Canberra, which gave a research institute a grant of 100,000 Australian dollars to build a case against GIs (the Commission did not wish to comment on this information; to date, EUROPE has not been able to obtain any feedback from the Australian side either). Another possible source of friction is the climate-scepticism of the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison as Australian forests burn (see EUROPE 12402/4). The Commission has also undertaken to include the Paris Climate Agreement among the essential clauses of future bilateral trade agreements, in order to allow their suspension in the event of violation (see EUROPE 12398/5).
Chile: discussions have been ongoing since their launch at the end of 2017. A sixth round of talks ended on 25 November (see EUROPE 12307/9), during which "much progress has been made in a large number of chapters", says a Commission report. However, many issues still need to be clarified and further developed.
China: Twenty-five rounds of these highly political negotiations, whose main aim is to rebalance the investment dimension of the economic relationship. The EU expects China to show signs of good will by concluding a comprehensive investment agreement in 2020 (see EUROPE 12405/20, 12355/14). Before the winter break, Beijing presented its second market offer, but to date the Commission is not yet in a position to comment on the quality of this offer nor, therefore, on how far the negotiators still have to go (see EUROPE 12403/10, 12395/12).
Indonesia: negotiators met last December for a ninth round of negotiations since talks began on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) launched in mid-2016 (see EUROPE 12303/16) and progress has been made "in almost all chapters of the agreement", in particular "the second offer for tariff liberalisation, the publication for opposition of the respective list of geographical indications (GIs) and the start of detailed discussions on Product Specific Rules", according to the Commission in a report published on 17 January 2020. A date for the next round has already been set for March 2020 in Indonesia. It should be noted, however, that the tensions surrounding the Indonesian palm oil trade could complicate the conclusion of the future agreement (see EUROPE 12391/19, 12300/13).
United States: of the two mandates published in April 2019, only the one relating to conformity assessment has been "activated" by Washington (see EUROPE 12375/1). Negotiations on this subject are continuing with mixed results. The US textual proposal, submitted in December, disappointed Europeans with its imbalance with regard to European interests, EUROPE learned. Visiting Washington on 13-16 January, EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan was less than optimistic about progress on the transatlantic 'positive agenda', suggesting that hopes for a less turbulent trade relationship will have to wait until after the US elections (see EUROPE 12405/20).
Mexico: EUROPE learned this week that the annex on sub-federal public procurement, listing the Mexican entities that will open their public procurement markets to European companies, has finally been submitted to the EU (see EUROPE 12375/1). While the supply covers only 13 of the 32 states, they account for 63% of Mexico's GDP. It also contains a five-year appointment clause. The Commission, in turn, is expected to send its own sub-federal offer shortly. The talks to modernise the EU/Mexico agreement will thus be finalised (see EUROPE 12155/24) and the 'legal cleaning' of the texts can then be finalised before they are sent for translation. A decision will then be made according to the terms of its signature.
New Zealand: the pace of these discussions with this other Oceanian partner has remained steady since their launch in June 2018. The Commission has submitted its textual proposals on the most important sectors and the latest round, last December, " allowed both sides’ negotiators to get closer to reaching a provisional conclusion in a number of areas," the Commission says in a paper published on 17 January. Discussions are expected to continue in the margins of the Davos Economic Forum, before a new round in the spring.
Tunisia: the EU/Tunisia negotiations are continuing more or less since their resumption in May 2018 in a context that remains rather hostile, especially on the Maghreb side, which is urging the EU to conclude an asymmetrical agreement in favour of the Tunisian side (see EUROPE 12270/20). (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)