PM off to Europe on trade mission
A free-trade deal with the European Union is set to be the top priority for the prime minister when she touches down in Europe for her biggest foreign policy test yet.
Jacinda Ardern departs this weekend for a European trade mission and to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in London.
The trip is set to mark off a number of firsts for Ardern: her first face-to-face meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
She will also likely meet the Queen, who is the head of the Commonwealth, and in a public ‘‘town hall’’ event in London, Ardern will join Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on stage for a Q&A forum with a number of London youth.
But, beginning in Paris, Ardern will raise the free-trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union as a top priority in an hour-long bilateral discussion with Macron.
France has been hesitant about a trade agreement with New Zealand, and agriculture is understood to be a large reason why.
Ardern is likely to use trade agreements in competitive markets like China and the recently signed 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as examples of how issues in agriculture are dealt with at the negotiation table.
The FTA would represent about $15 billion in two-way trade, but a mandate for the EU to begin negotiations is yet to be voted on by the 23 member states. It is expected to
An EU free trade agreement would represent about $15 billion in twoway trade.
be considered in May.
Germany, however, which along with France holds significant sway in the European Union, has been publicly supportive of a deal with New Zealand. Issues of reciprocal education agreements and visa access are likely to be one priority in Ardern’s discussions with Merkel.
Ardern will then have a formal discussion with May at 10 Downing Street, ahead of the opening of Chogm, and a free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom following its exit from the EU will be a priority.
While the UK has been given the green light to begin talking with other countries on trade, no formal talks can begin until the terms of its exit from the EU are finalised – not due to occur until the Brexit deadline of March 2019.
Ardern’s trip, however, coincides with a number global flashpoints that will shape the tone of her meetings, not least the recent chemical attack on a Russian double agent on British soil, largely acknowledged to be the work of the Russian Government.
New Zealand raised international eyebrows over the reluctance of Foreign Minister Winston Peters to relinquish efforts to reignite free-trade talks with Russia, in light of the chemical attack. He will also travel to Europe and is set to hold talks with UK counterpart Boris Johnson.