The text of the free trade agreement between the European Union and New Zealand was overwhelmingly approved by MEPs at the plenary session on Wednesday 22 November, with 524 votes in favour and 85 against.
This agreement has been described as “the greenest and most progressive ever put in place” by a large number of European legislators, on both the right and the left. Daniel Caspary (EPP, German), the rapporteur for the text of the resolution on the agreement, reiterated that it “will serve as a golden standard and a norm for all future agreements”.
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.
It is this new approach to trade and the environment, as well as several chapters on the rights of indigenous peoples and gender equality, that have helped to make this text a standard-bearer for the new European progressivism in the field of trade agreements.
“This approval is a key step for the development of a trade policy based on environmental and social values”, said Pedro Silva Pereira (S&D, Portuguese) after the vote. In the EPP and Renew Europe groups, most MEPs are pleased about the economic opportunities and the conservation of hundreds of European protected geographical designations. Business lobby BusinessEurope welcomed the “boost” given to the EU’s “trade engine” with the ratification of this agreement.
However, the agreement is more important for its environmental and social symbolism than for its economic weight. European imports from New Zealand were worth just €2.8 billion in 2021, compared with €17.9 billion from Australia.
“Tariffs will disappear completely in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors”, Daniel Caspary explained, “but as far for beef imports, which are a cause for concern for European farmers, the quantities are minimal: we’re talking about just 10,000 tonnes a year” (see EUROPE 12984/2).
Some have spoken against the agreement, denouncing it as having a false environmental façade. The Left is critical of the lack of ‘mirror clauses’ which would require reciprocity of health and environmental standards between the two parties. The French Socialist delegation has expressed a similar view, pointing out that the agreement is in “contradiction” with the ambitions of a “Buy European Act”, which they intend to support. EPP MEP François-Xavier Bellamy also voted against the agreement, criticising “the arrival in Europe of products made with substances banned in France and the EU” and which “does not provide sufficient protection for French producers, who already face too much competition from Europe”.
See the text of the agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/9ok (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)