Negotiations for FTA between European Union and New Zealand initiated
On October, 29, 2015 the President of the EU Commission Juncker and President of the Council Tusk met with Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key to discuss the possibility to further develop trade and economic relations between the European Union and New Zealand.
In a joint statement, the three leaders said: “The European Union and New Zealand are longstanding and close partners. We share core values, common interests and a growing and mutually beneficial trade and economic relationship, reinforced by strong people-to-people and cultural ties. We came together today to agree to further deepen our political, security, trade and investment relations. Today we committed to start the process for negotiations to achieve swiftly a deep and comprehensive high-quality Free Trade Agreement.
Discussions to define the scope and overall approach to the negotiations should start as soon as possible. In parallel with this, we agreed to take steps to seek the necessary authorisation for the negotiations on the basis of a successful scoping. We believe that a FTA will support sustainable growth and investment, opening up new trade and business opportunities and generating new employment for our peoples.” (The full statement can be found here, the recording of the press point with President Juncker and the Prime Minister of New Zealand here). Later on October 29, 2015, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will meet New Zealand’s Minister of Trade, Tim Groser to discuss further details of the scope and overall approach to future negotiations. Both also will use this opportunity to exchange views on the preparation for the upcoming 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Tarde Organisation (WTO) and the ongoing talks on a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) in which both the EU and New Zealand participate. The EU and New Zealand now look forward to the next ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (November 2015) and ASEM Summit (July 2016).