Losing its sparkle: PM voices prosecco concerns over EU trade deal

Rome: Australia is holding the line against calls to change the name of products ranging from prosecco to feta and parma ham under a mammoth trade deal with the European Union, arguing they are part of the nation’s migrant heritage.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed his concerns about the demands ahead of talks with EU President Ursula von der Leyen in Rome, as they try to negotiate a trade pact that could add billions of dollars to both sides.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Italy to attend the Pope’s inauguration on Sunday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Albanese named farm exports as a key obstacle to an agreement, saying the EU had not been willing to meet Australian demands for access to the European market, even as he talked up the importance of closer trade ties.

He also skirted any mention of relaxing the luxury car tax on European vehicles, which is a key objective for EU member states such as Germany, as their vehicles incur a 5 per cent tariff in Australia while cars from other countries – including electric vehicles from China – face no tariffs.

Albanese acknowledged a strategic element to the EU agreement when the global economy is at risk of slower growth after the shock tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump in the past six weeks.

“The world understands that free and fair trade and global markets can’t be taken for granted,” he said.

“There has been disruption, and we’ve seen that as a result of the decision of the Trump administration.

“And that threatens global growth, and will have an impact far greater, it must be said, than any potential impact of any particular tariffs on Australia.”

However, he made it clear that any deal would have to overcome the “blockage” on agriculture and the onerous demands from the EU on the right to use names such as prosecco and feta.

The EU trade pact has been under discussion for more than a decade but stalled last year when Australia wanted more access for beef and lamb exports than EU countries were willing to accept, reflecting the political power of farm groups.

Mauro Montalto from Floridia Cheese is the third generation of his family to produce traditional Italian cheeses, including parmesan, in Melbourne.Credit: Joe Armao

A key EU demand is that Australian producers accept that prosecco can only be used to describe a sparkling wine from the Veneto region of Italy, or that parma ham, feta and parmesan cheese are also “geographic indications” for similar reasons.

Albanese said names such as feta had developed in Australia because migrants had come from Europe and brought their cultures with them.

“The naming rights of those products are related to migrants from Europe who’ve come to Australia and produce products that they continue to call feta or prosecco because they’re based upon the heritage,” he said.

“That’s something that the Europeans should be proud of.”

His comments came one day after the EU ambassador to Australia, Gabriele Visentin, signalled that Europe was open to a compromise on using the geographic indications.

“I can tell you the European Union has a history of sorting out this kind of issue with our partners; there is a history of possible compromises which were acceptable to our partners as well,” he told this masthead.

Albanese aired his concerns about food and wine names when speaking in Rome on Saturday, one day before he attends the inauguration mass for Pope Leo XIV. He will hold talks with von der Leyen later on Sunday.

The prime minister said he had put his view directly to von der Leyen and other European representatives in the past because he believed it was “not appropriate” for Australians to have to call something a different name when it was the same thing, such as feta cheese.

The geographical indications are a longstanding part of EU farm rules and have been accepted by Australia in the past, leading to labels such as champagne, port and sherry being banned from Australian wines in 2009, but the EU is seeking to expand its list of “brand” names.

Bilateral trade between Australia and the EU is worth $156 billion a year. An early EU scoping study for the trade deal concluded that it might add €4.2 billion ($7.3 billion) to the Australian economy, based on a 0.2 per cent increase in its gross domestic product. The same study suggested the economic gain to the EU might be worth €4.9 billion because it could increase its GDP by 0.02 per cent.

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