Background and state of play

The Commission presented the draft negotiating directives in September 2017. In May 2018, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade agreement with Australia, and adopted the related negotiating directives. According to the mandate, the 'Agreement should exclusively contain provisions on trade and foreign direct investment related areas'. The EU is committed to taking European agricultural sensitivities fully into consideration during the negotiations. Therefore, it also stated that the most sensitive products should be covered by specific provisions.

On 18 June 2018, negotiations were formally launched in Australia.

In 2016, the Commission undertook a public consultation on the future EU-Australia and EU-New Zealand trade and economic relations.

A Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) Draft Final Report carried out for the Commission was published in December 2019.

Negotiating rounds

Between July 2018 and October 2023, 15 negotiating rounds took place. The 15th round took place in Brussels on 24-28 April 2023. During this round, 11 Chapters and sub-chapters, including technical barriers to Trade, or intellectual property rights (except GI) were provisionally concluded. Nevertheless, on 29 October 2023, the EU and Australia decided to suspend talks on the FTA. 

In June 2025, the parties have agreed to revive talks for the FTA, after Australia's trade minister Don Farrell met with Commissioner Šefčovič on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. However, according to recent press reports, there are still elements that could derail, or at least postpone the deal. These include (i) whether the EU will grant more access to Australian farm produce, chiefly beef and lamb, but also sugar, rice and dairy; (ii) whether the parties will reach a deal on geographical indications (e.g. prosecco, pecorino, parmesan and feta), (iii) the price of Australian raw materials; (iv) whether Australia abolishes its taxes on luxury vehicle imports.

Position of the European Parliament

In February 2016, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the opening of FTA negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. The EP supported the idea of negotiating FTAs with these countries. In October 2017, the European Parliament adopted a resolution containing a recommendation on the proposed negotiating mandate for trade negotiations with Australia. In the resolution the Parliament called on the Council to authorise the Commission to start negotiations with Australia. The MEPs also put forward a number of aspects that should be included in the negotiating directives. These include, among other things, the creation of new opportunities for EU companies in obtaining contracts with public authorities in strategic sectors; the inclusion of a specific chapter devoted to generating business opportunities for micro-enterprises and SMEs; special treatment for some sensitive agricultural products and a request that consideration should be given to the exclusion of the most sensitive sectors; and the preservation of governments' right to regulate with a view to achieving legitimate policy objectives.

 References:

• European Parliament, Resolution of 25 February 2016 on the opening of FTA negotiations with Australia and New Zealand, 2015/2932(RSP)
• European Parliament, Resolution of 26 October 2017 containing the Parliament's recommendation to the Council on the proposed negotiating mandate for trade negotiations with Australia, 2017/2191(INI)
• European Commission, Towards an EU-Australia Trade Agreement, webpage
• European Commission, Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Australia, COM(217) 472
• European Commission, Commission Staff Working Document. Impact Assessment accompanying the document Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Australia, SWD (2017) 293
• European Commission, Report of the 12th round of negotiations for a trade agreement between the European Union and Australia, 7-18 February 2022
• European Commission, Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment in support of FTA negotiations between the European Union and Australia, Draft Final Report, 13 December 2019
• Council, Negotiating directives for a Free Trade Agreement with Australia, 25 June 2018

Further reading:

• European Parliament, EPRS, EU-Australia free trade agreement - Moving towards the launch of talks, Briefing, October 2017
• European Parliament, EPRS, State of play of EU-Australia FTA talks, At a glance, December 2020

Author: Angelos Delivorias, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

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