Trade Minister Damien O’Connor hopes to finalise a EU trade deal this year. Negotiations began in 2018, but have stalled on the important issue of market access for agricultural exports.
Trade Minister Damien O’Connor remains confident he can nail down a free trade deal with the European Union this year, despite its continued stalling on agricultural market access negotiations.
O’Connor wrapped up his visit to Brussels with the EU in turmoil, as it grapples with how to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We appreciated the time that we got from commissioners and others when the whole EU, and indeed the whole of Europe, is focused on the crisis and disaster in Ukraine,” O’Connor said.
Top of the agenda for O’Connor in Europe’s bureaucratic capital were meetings with EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, which went ahead despite both men’s countries being deeply embroiled in the current crisis.
Dombrovskis, a former Prime Minister of Latvia, has been vocal in recent days about the growing threat to the security of Baltic states such as his own from Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been integral in the bloc’s sanctions response.
“We were appreciative that our meetings were not cancelled and that we did get to meet and offer our support to these people – some of whom are personally directly affected,” he said.
“As well as the Trade Commissioner, the Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski is from Poland.
“Clearly these are two countries that have grave concerns with what is going on.”
O’Connor said he had highlighted legislation passed last week stepping up NZ’s sanctions against Russians linked to the invasion, as well as Fonterra’s suspension of exports to Russia.
“They appreciated that move from Fonterra and indeed the support that they have had from around the world to see this conflict stopped,” he said.
Fresh from the triumph of the UK FTA signing the week before in London, O’Connor faced a much tougher task in Brussels convincing the EU to hurry up and do the same for NZ.
Negotiations began in 2018, but have stalled on the important issue of market access for agricultural exports.
It has been two years since former Trade Minister David Parker blasted the EU’s offer to open up a mere 0.02% of its domestic cheese market and 0.03% of its butter market.
The EU is yet to refresh its opening offer and O’Connor is not expecting it to before officials begin talks again this week after a nine-month hiatus.
“I do not realistically think it will be on the table [this week] but it will be in the pipeline,” he said.
It was reported by overseas media late last year that the French had asked the EU to park negotiations with NZ until after the country’s presidential elections next month.
Leaked offers before the election showing improved market access for NZ farmers could be safely assumed would not play well for incumbent Emmanuel Macron with the powerful French farming lobby.
O’Connor said he had reiterated NZ’s position that any agreement needed to include the removal of tariffs and quotas currently holding back NZ agricultural exports to the EU.
“They understand that, but we have to understand the complexities for them of arriving at a useful position with all the member states at a time of great uncertainty in the EU,” he said.
“Covid has been a challenge for all of those member states and now the Ukraine disaster.
“We have to be respectful of their focus and the complexities of negotiating, where unlike the UK where it was one country, with the EU you are dealing with quite a number.”
Despite the complexity of the negotiation and the continued absence of a sensible market access offer from the Europeans, he said he remained confident a deal could be agreed before the end of this year.
“We have committed to some fairly ambitious timelines to move through the agreement,” he said.
“The Europeans know a commercially meaningful market access offer has to be part of the deal.
“We are expecting to get that as soon as they can table it and then be in a position to work through the details with them.”
