Backing for free trade talks

EU LEGISLATORS backed the start of free trade talks with Australia and New Zealand yesterday, while warning negotiators they should be cautious about opening up EU markets to farm produce such as butter and beef. European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker said last month that the EU should launch and conclude free trade agreements with the two countries in the next two years. If Juncker’s time frame is achieved, the EU would get in ahead of Britain, which is also courting its two former colonies, but cannot negotiate independent trade deals until it leaves the EU in March 2019. – Reuters

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