The European Union has failed to offer Australia satisfactory terms to seal a free-trade accord, Trade Minister Don Farrell said, as small but important sticking points threaten to derail plans to sign by the end of August.EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said Wednesday evening in Brussels that it’s possible the agreement could be signed at a NATO summit in Lithuania in mid-July, the Australian Financial Review reported. The five-year negotiations between the bloc and Canberra are in their “end-game,” he told reporters, adding there is still “certain ground to be covered.”
Australia remains dissatisfied with the level of market access being offered for agricultural products and isn’t prepared to sign a deal without “meaningful commercial market access,” Farrell said Thursday in a statement. “At this stage we haven’t had a good enough offer from the Europeans,” he said.
Behind the scenes, European negotiators believe the FTA could be agreed in coming weeks if differences over the last major sticking point — market access for Australian beef — are bridged, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
But Australia is signalling it’s unhappy with the access on offer across a range of agricultural products, including beef, sugar and mutton. It needs to decide then whether to take what’s on the table or walk away.
Australia is believed to want a deal similar to the FTA struck between the EU and Canada in 2014.
There are also disagreements over the EU’s insistence on geographical indication protection for hundreds of products that could affect the branding of Australia’s exports such as prosecco and feta. EU negotiators consider these to be non-negotiables while Farrell has previously said it was an “emotional issue” for Australian farmers.
Resolving these are likely to be easier if the key issue of beef is resolved.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the NATO summit in Vilnius starting July 11, while Farrell may return to the EU for further negotiations in early July, both potential opportunities to further or finalise the trade agreement.
