The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Chris Hipkins, signed, on Sunday 9 July, the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and New Zealand. It will not come into force until it has been ratified by the European Parliament and Wellington. This second stage is not expected to take place until next spring (see EUROPE 13210/30).
“With this agreement, we should be able to increase trade between us by 30%, and EU investment in New Zealand by 80%”, said Ms von der Leyen. New Zealand’s Prime Minister was also delighted to sign what he called “the greenest ever agreement”. For the first time in a bilateral trade agreement concluded by the EU, the obligation to respect the Paris Agreement and certain International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions is accompanied by sanctions in the event of non-compliance by either party.
The two presidents also signed an agreement on New Zealand’s participation in various EU programmes, including Horizon Europe, the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation.
A political compromise on the agreement was announced on 20 December 2022 (see EUROPE 13088/10). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Émilie Vanderhulst)