Europe is poised to give up strict product naming rights to get a free trade deal with Australia over the line, Labor’s trade tsar says.
Trade talks between Australia and the EU collapsed in late 2023 but have been revived in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Don Farrell said on Monday “both Australia and Europe now realise that there’s a priority and an imperative to get a free-trade agreement”.
“If other countries don’t want to trade with you, well, that’s fine,” the Trade Minister told Sky News.
“That’s their decision, but if there are countries who do want to do trade with you, well, then you’ve got to go that extra mile to get an agreement over the line.”
Going the “extra mile” for the EU would likely mean loosening its grasp on geographical indicators – product names that relate to specific regions, such as feta or prosecco.
“So those geographical indicators are hard issues,” Senator Farrell said.
“On the one hand, the Europeans say, ‘Well, you’re using all of our names’.
“On the other hand, what I say to them is, ‘Look, after World War II, a whole lot of Europeans came to Australia. They bought their families, they bought their culture. More importantly, they bought their food and wine. And for them, the link with Europe is not an economic link — it’s a way that they keep in contact with their European roots’.”
He said he would meet with the EU’s ambassador on Tuesday.
Defence pact
Senator Farrell’s remarks came after Anthony Albanese met with European leaders on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration.
The Prime Minister spruiked Australia’s “common values” and “people-to-people links” with the EU as he headed into bilateral talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ms von der Leyen in turn said she was “looking forward to a new era between Europe and Australia” amid “geopolitical tensions”.
“The good thing is Australia and Europe are reliable partners,” she said.
“We are predictable, we share the same values as you just said, so we can offer to each other stability and we’re very grateful for that.
“And this is the reason also that we do not only see you as a trading partner, but we see you as a strategic partner, and we would very much like to broaden this strategic partnership.”
Ms von der Leyen pointed to the EU’s recent defence pacts signed with South Korea and Japan as well as another deal set to go through with the UK.
“We would be very pleased if we could develop such a security and defence partnership too, just to broaden the strategic partnership in many topics that we have in common,” she said.
