EU, Australia trade talks postponed amid subs row

Australia last month abruptly cancelled a multibillion-dollar contract for 12 French submarines, opting to buy nuclear-powered US-designed vessels instead

A long-planned round of Australia-EU free trade talks have been postponed, a European official confirmed Friday, after fury over Canberra's decision to cancel a major French submarine contract.

"The FTA trade round has been postponed for a month until November," an EU official in Canberra told AFP, throwing the future of the far-reaching pact into doubt.

The decision prompted a major diplomatic spat with one of the European Union's largest members and now appears to have hit ties with the entire bloc.

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan, who was scheduled to travel to Europe for the talks, played down the decision.

Tehan indicated he still plans to meet EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis -- representing the EU executive that negotiates trade deals on behalf of its member governments -- next week to discuss what would be the 12th round of negotiations.

In Brussels, EU spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer underlined that that "it is not the end of these negotiations". 

The European Union is Australia's third-biggest trading partner, with trade in goods between the two economies valued at 36 billion euros ($42.4 billion) and at 26 billion euros in services last year.

Negotiations began in 2018 and officials had hoped to reach a final agreement by the end of the year.

- France 'deliberately deceived' -

In response to the decision the French government recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington, a rare move to protest allies' behaviour.

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull this week said his successor and former party colleague "deliberately deceived" France in scrapping the deal.

"France believes it has been deceived and humiliated, and she was. This betrayal of trust will dog our relations with Europe for years," he added.

Canberra insists it scrapped the contract as it decided it needs nuclear submarines, which can remain underwater and undetected for far greater stretches, at a time of rising tensions with China.

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