EU Commission chief to visit Australia as trade deal approaches
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Dr Ursula Von der Leyen will arrive in Australia on March 23 before travelling to Canberra to meet with Australian PM Anthony Albanese.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BRUSSELS - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Australia next week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced, just days after she said that a trade deal between the two sides is “in the final stretch”.
Dr Von der Leyen will arrive in Australia on March 23 before travelling to Canberra to meet Mr Albanese, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on March 18.
While Mr Albanese’s office didn’t confirm whether a free trade agreement would be signed during the visit, the government said Dr von der Leyen would be accompanied by EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic.
The meeting between the two leaders will take place on March 24, the prime minister’s office said.
Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell told Sky News on March 17 that he had a video meeting with Mr Sefcovic the night before where the two went through the remaining issues for the trade agreement.
“I think there are ways through all of those remaining issues and I’m confident that if there’s goodwill on our part and also the Europeans, that in the very near future, we will be able to announce a free trade agreement with the Europeans,” he said. “It’s been hard to get.”
Australia and the European Union have been negotiating a free trade agreement for more than eight years, beginning in 2018.
The two sides were very near to an agreement in 2023 before talks broke down, with each blaming the other.
However, in a recent letter to European leaders, Dr von der Leyen said that the bloc and Australia were nearing a deal on an FTA, adding that it would mark “yet another milestone in diversifying Europe’s international partnerships”.
The EU and Australia have been on the cusp of sealing a trade pact for weeks, but the agreement was hung up over issues including meat imports.
Australia has been pushing the EU to raise the amount of beef that can enter the bloc under preferential terms.
But agricultural imports are a sensitive issue for the EU, which doesn’t want to undermine its own sector.
Meanwhile Australia’s agriculture industry has been sceptical of the potential for the agreement with the EU for months, expecting that their interests will likely come second to completing the overall agreement. BLOOMBERG
