The agreement is to be signed during a meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Tuesday morning local time (Wednesday just after midnight Polish time). The agreement has been negotiated since 2018. Recently, work has accelerated due to the US trade policy during the presidency of Donald Trump.
The agreement with Australia will bring very specific economic benefits, says EC spokesman Olof Gill. — We expect a reduction in customs duties worth approximately EUR 1 billion annually for European exporters, he announced. The European Commission predicts that exports of goods from the EU to Australia will increase by approximately 33%.
– Please be patient because […] the last kilometer is the most difficult, he emphasized.
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The European Commission is seeking an agreement with Australia. The EC spokesman explains
When asked whether he expected farmers' protests similar to those caused by the agreement with Mercosur, Olof Gill replied that the agreement with Australia would include safeguards for all sensitive EU sectors.
Australia is a significant global exporter of agricultural products, and agriculture makes a significant contribution to the country's GDP and trade, including exports of high-quality beef, wheat, wool and dairy products.
As the EC spokesman added, it is not without reason that the European Union has a EUR 50 billion surplus in trade in agricultural products. — The EC is working hard on trade agreements to ensure, on the one hand, the best available export opportunities for our agri-food sector and, on the other hand, the strongest possible safeguards for our sensitive sectors, noted Gill.
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In the case of an agreement with Australia, cooperation in the area of critical raw materials, which the EU currently imports largely from China, will be key. Meanwhile, the demand for these materials will increase due to the energy and digital transformation in the EU.
Olof Gill pointed out that Australia is an important producer of, among others, aluminum, lithium and manganese. — The aim of the future free trade agreement with Australia is to reduce or completely eliminate bilateral tariffs as they are linked to the critical raw materials themselves and products made from them. This means we would have stronger, more efficient and reliable supply chains with a key partner for the critical raw materials that Australia, like the EU, needs for its green and digital economic transformation, the EC spokesman stressed.
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The European Union concludes trade agreements. Earlier, it reached an agreement with Mercosur and India
The agreement with Australia will be the third trade agreement concluded by the EU this year. The agreement with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries was signed on January 17. According to the EC's announcement on Monday, it will be in force temporarily from May 1, despite the blocking of the ratification process by the European Parliament, which announced a complaint against this agreement to the EU tribunal.
The EC concluded trade negotiations with India on January 27. As in this case, the European Union is yet to complete trade negotiations with Australia and announce a preliminary political agreement. The text will require legal verification and translation into all official EU languages. Only then will the EC be able to submit a proposal to the Member States and the European Parliament to sign and conclude the agreement. Australia will also have to carry out the ratification process.
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