In Luxembourg on Monday, 17 October, European agriculture ministers welcomed the vigilance exhibited by the European Commission in the negotiations on the agricultural component of the free trade agreement between the EU and Australia.
“There are good reasons to move forward with the trade agreements”, emphasised European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, speaking before European agriculture ministers. “There are still many issues to be resolved, but our goal is to conclude negotiations in 2023”, he added.
Economically, markets and sources of supply should be diversified, and excessive dependencies should be avoided. Politically, it is important, according to the commissioner, to form alliances with like-minded countries.
The European Commission is pursuing discussions with Australia and has relaunched negotiations with India—both on a free trade agreement and on a bilateral agreement on geographical indications.
“We will endeavour to make progress as quickly as possible between now and the end of 2022 and into 2023, but our overarching principle remains that quality takes precedence over speed in all our negotiations”, he stressed.
As far as Australia is concerned, the next round of negotiations takes place soon, with exchanges on preliminary offers (see EUROPE 13022/22). The commissioner assured that the most sensitive sectors (red meat, sugar, rice, and dairy products) will be excluded from the EU’s offer. Should concessions be made, the commissioner warns that these products will not be fully liberalised and that specific treatment will be foreseen.
The EU hopes to obtain full liberalisation of agricultural customs duties by Australia, notably for cheese. The EU also wishes to improve the sanitary and phytosanitary aspects of the trade agreement. “There are still many issues to be resolved, but our goal is to conclude negotiations in 2023”, the commissioner added.
The risk for sensitive sectors (beef, sugar, and milk) was mentioned notably by France during the EU Council. Ireland referred to the potential effects of the bilateral trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Australia.
Agriculture ministers welcomed the agreement that had been reached with New Zealand.
With regard to India, the EU has relaunched negotiations in preparation for establishing a free trade agreement in June. Separate negotiations are planned for an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications. The third round of negotiations is tentatively scheduled for the end of the year.
French Minister [for Agriculture] Marc Fesneau notably indicated that the trade agreements should better integrate reciprocity issues. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)