Australia & New Zealand: Europe's like-minded partners
In times of global uncertainty, strengthening ties with countries committed to the rules-based order, such as Australia and New Zealand, are crucial, explains Ulrike Müller.
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03 Mar 2021
On 9 March, the EU and Australia will enter their tenth round of negotiations on a free trade agreement - a small milestone marking the steady progress since the formal launch of negotiations in June 2018. At the same time, the EU is also preparing for its tenth round of negotiations with New Zealand. In fact, negotiations with both countries started simultaneously on the basis of identical EU text proposals. Yet, although the EU has similar interests for, and faces some of the same challenges in, the two FTAs, the negotiations are separate, follow their own pace, and will lead to different outcomes.