Business leaders push for EU deal
Business leaders are in a fresh push towards a free trade agreement with the European Union, selling New Zealand as a gateway to China.
Trade figures are hopeful that officials in Brussels will announce tentative steps towards negotiations during a visit of Prime Minister John Key in October.
Any announcement is likely to be tentative, such as a decision to seek a mandate to negotiate and a study to assess the implications of a deal.
On Wednesday night the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) launched a new paper in Wellington outlining the business case for a deal, written with the support of some of New Zealand’s major companies.
The report outlined the disadvantage New Zealand companies face against competitors in the EU because of trade tariffs, as well as missed opportunities for European companies to tap into New Zealand’s links into Asia.
NZIBF executive director Stephen Jacobi said that while there were substantial gains for New Zealand from an FTA through cutting trade tariffs, New Zealand had to convince European economies that it had something else to offer.
This was likely to be a push to promote New Zealand’s strong links into Asia, especially China, one of the few remaining major economies where the EU does not have a free trade deal.
‘‘You’ve got to have a much bigger proposition’’ than simply access to the New Zealand market, Jacobi said. ‘‘What we’ve found with our other FTAs is there’s a big idea associated with them [or else] they don’t move very quickly.’’
China’s FTA was boosted by it being the first deal of its kind, allowing the emerging economy to dip a toe into trade agreements with a relatively small economy, while the deal with South Korea cleared the path for Seoul to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
‘‘How do we persuade them that what we can offer them here is of value to them when we’ve already opened up our market? What’s the big idea? A window into China and Southeast Asia,’’ Jacobi said.
A number of top European political leaders have already expressed support for trade negotiations with New Zealand, including Britain’s David Cameron and Germay’s Angela Merkel. However, any negotiations are likely to be opposed by Europe’s active and politically powerful farming lobby.
Associate Trade Minister Todd McClay welcomed the NZIBF report. While New Zealand’s interest in an FTA with the EU might seem self-evident, McClay said, it was ‘‘useful to hear from business the difference a firmer legal framework in the form of a comprehensive, modern, high-quality FTA could make to the opportunities they see to expand their trade and investment connections with Europe’’.