Don Farrell demands a “better deal” for Australia on EU trade agreement

Trade Minister Don Farrell says there is still a ‘gap between our expectations and what the Europeans are offering’ regarding a free trade agreement.

Trade Minister Don Farrell says there is still a gap between Australia’s expectations for a free agreement with the EU.

Trade Minister Don Farrell has demanded “a better deal” if ­Australia is to sign-up to any free-trade agreement with the EU after resuming negotiations with his European counterpart.

After trade talks stalled in July, Senator Farrell vowed on Thursday to “persist for as long as it takes, and to work as hard as I can on behalf of Australian businesses to get a better deal.”

Senator Farrell had previously warned that the Europeans had fallen short of making a “realistic offer” that could help clinch an agreement.

In July, Anthony Albanese flagged that Australia could walk away from a trade deal with the European Union if more concessions were not made.

Speaking in Berlin, the Prime Minister said that Australia wanted to conclude the agreement, but would not be “signing up to things that are not in Australia’s national interest.”

“In particular, we want access to European markets and we want to have the mutual benefit that comes from free trade between Australia and Europe.”

A potential trade deal could be worth an estimated $100bn, but Australian officials are willing to walk away if the EU does not offer more substantial market access for key agricultural products.

Trade Minister Don Farrell.

Senator Farrell resumed negotiations by teleconference with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on Thursday afternoon, with Australia demanding greater market access for beef, sheep meat, sugar and dairy.

While the meeting was productive, Senator Farrell also signalled there was still a long way to go if a deal was to be struck. “We are making progress but we need to bridge the gap between our expectations and what the Europeans are offering,” he said.

Senator Farrell said he was “looking forward” to meeting with Mr Dombrovskis again “in person at the earliest opportunity.”

The EU has been pushing for the protection of geographic indicators on key products including prosecco, feta, parmesan and romano as part of any deal with Australia.

Senator Farrell - who has held three face-to-face meetings with Mr Dombrovskis since December - has been trying to leverage Australia’s abundance of critical minerals and Europe’s dependence on Chinese supply to secure a breakthrough in the talks.

Access to Australia’s critical minerals is important for the EU as it seeks to reach its climate targets, with Senator Farrell having argued that a free-trade agreement would simplify European investment in Australia’s burgeoning critical minerals sector.

This could also see Australia smoothing access through the mandatory Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) screening process.

After the meeting, Senator Farrell said the talks were “productive” and that he “made our expectations clear on what it will take to finalise a trade agreement with the European Union - a better deal.”