Austria backs swift conclusion to EU-Australia free trade deal

Austrian Labor and Economic Affairs Minister Martin Kocher says the EU-Australia FTA will help to diversify trade ties as Europe faces its biggest challenge since the fall of the iron curtain.

Austrian Labor and Economic Affairs Minister Martin Kocher. Picture: Supplied

Austrian Labor and Economic Affairs Minister Martin Kocher says Europe’s free trade agreement with Australia should be finalised by the end of the year and that outstanding issues were “solvable”, arguing the deal would help to improve supply chain diversity and resilience.

Mr Kocher, who has responsibility for trade, was in the country last week where he met with several ministers and told The Australian the finalisation of the FTA was “strategically important for the European Union” given the Ukraine conflict.

He said that the potential of the Pacific region had not been fully realised by the European Union and warned the strategic and economic challenges facing Europe were the most challenging “since the fall off the Iron Curtain.”

“There’s a clear focus of the European Union towards Far East and the Pacific region,” Mr Kocher said. “It’s a clear focus of the European Union for countries that share the same values and norms as the European Union. Australia is a natural partner here.”

“The (EU-Australia free trade) agreement is a way to diversify for both sides, in my opinion. On the one hand of course, for Europe in general, not only with regard to raw materials and rare earths. Also, in general, of course, there is an interest in diversifying the supply chain.

“I think the potential that is in the Pacific region has not been fully exploited in the European Union so far. Also for Australia, of course, as far as I understood, there is of course an interest to diversify a bit from Chinese dependence, in terms of exports, in terms of imports, and the European Union is a natural partner in that respect.”

Mr Kocher said that China do more to exert influence over Russia to try and draw it towards a resolution of the war in Ukraine, and argued there were “clear red lines” in Europe “in terms of what kind of support to Russia is possible and not.”

“I think the European Union understands, and the US as well, that not all the countries fully support all the sanctions. It depends a bit on history and other aspects. But clearly it’s important to contain the conflict and to make sure that we come to a situation where this conflict ends and the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is re-established.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recently outlined a strategy to “de-risk” relations with China without “decoupling”, warning the relationship was “unbalanced and increasingly affected by distortions created by China’s state capitalist system.”

She argued for the European relationship with China to be rebalanced on the basis of “transparency, predictability and reciprocity” with Mr Kocher agreeing that it was “completely illusionary” to talk about decoupling from Beijing.

“We have to face, of course, certain dependencies, and these dependencies, of course, are both directional, and I think that’s important to acknowledge as a starting point, and to find a way to deal with those dependencies,” he said.

“The risks are involved, of course, in critical goods. So during the pandemic it was, of course, medicine and medical devices. It’s possible, I think, to diversify a bit better ... And there is of course a proposal of the European Commission on critical raw materials and diversification there. There’s a strategy through the European Chips Act for micro electronics. There is much more attention to these issues.”

Mr Kocher was in Australia last week and held meetings with Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

Following the negotiation of a strategic partnership between Austria and Australia in 2001, Mr Kocher said his objective was to restart bilateral engagement, advance the EU and Australia FTA and deep co-operation between both nations.

“The visit is a chance to foster the corporation that we have, and to support companies and to support everybody who is engaged in fostering this bilateral friendship. We have 140 companies, Austrian companies, active in Australia in very different fields,” he said.