David Campbell Bannerman, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, while recently in New Zealand for my work on the parallel EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, I was reminded of the importance of the deep and special relationship with our Kiwi friends. The EU is New Zealand’s third-largest trading partner, after Australia and China, whilst the UK remains New Zealand’s top EU export destination. EU Member States and New Zealand enjoy a strong partnership, sharing many common goals, with strong political, economic and cultural ties, including in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation.

The recently signed EU-New Zealand Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation (called PARC for short) is an important tool in modernising these historic links. This is a parallel, but separate, agreement covering non-trade aspects, very similar to Canada’s Strategic Partnership Agreement and Australia’s Framework Agreement. It aims to facilitate more effective bilateral engagement by strengthening political dialogue on a wide range of issues, from customs to innovation, education and culture, to migration, judicial affairs and the fight against global terrorism and cybercrime.

I expect a similar strategic agreement between the EU and the UK post-Brexit. I give credit to my friend and colleague Charles Tannock for his work in steering the PARC report through the European Parliament, and not leaving it parked.