One thing Australia won’t do in free trade agreement with European Union

Senior figures in Canberra have said there’s one thing Australia won’t do in its attempts to sign a huge new deal with Europe.

Australia has put a reasonable offer on the table and won’t sign a free trade agreement with the EU for the sake of it, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says.

With agriculture emerging as a sticking point despite multiple rounds of negotiations, Senator Watt reiterated the government wouldn’t sign the FTA unless it guaranteed good returns for Australian farmers.

“There’s a reason the former government didn’t finish a free trade agreement with the EU – it’s because it’s probably the hardest one to reach,” Senator Watt told reporters in Queensland on Monday.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says Australia would be willing to walk away from the FTA with Europe. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

He described the EU’s market as “heavily protected” and one that subsidised its farming industry which he said made it difficult to balance with Australia’s “highly efficient, non-subsidised” agricultural sector.

“But as I said last week, and (Trade Minister) Don Farrell has said, we’re not going to do a deal just for the sake of it,” Senator Watt said.

“We want to see good market access for our producers so that they can get more value and more exports and more wealth for our country.”

Trade Minister Don Farrell will hold more talks with his EU counterparts after their most recent meeting resulted in a stalemate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Senator Watt said some European countries were struggling with depressed produce prices because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and this was also making the EU more reluctant to sign a deal with Australia.

“But we’re hopeful that we can find a way through this,” he said.

It’s not the first time the Albanese government has suggested it will walk away from the FTA if it is unable to resolve key disagreements with the EU such as the one over agriculture.

The two parties have also locked horns over the EU’s push for so-called geographical indicators that would prevent Australian producers from using names such as prosecco or feta to label products.

Senator Farrell left a series of meetings in Brussels empty-handed last week after the EU refused to meet Australia’s request for better market access for the country’s farm exports.

Australia and the EU will return to the negotiating table in a bid to resolve the stalemate, with Senator Farrell having secured another round of trade talks with European counterparts.

The delays mean an earlier aspiration to have the agreement signed by July appears all but dead in the water despite Australian and European officials reportedly signing off on several chapters of the FTA earlier this year.