Canberra must do some heavy lifting to convince parliaments in Europe of the merits of a free trade deal between the European Union and Australia.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will prioritise this task when he leads a European-Australia Business Council trade delegation to Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague and Dublin from June 25-30.
The scope of a future free trade pact was agreed to in April but now EU member countries' parliaments must give formal approval to fire the starter's gun on talks.
The EU's trade deal with Canada was briefly held up last year when Belgian regional parliament Wallonia initially refused to sign off. Belgian-born Senator Cormann incidentally grew up in that region.
"As they say in the classics all that matters is what comes out the other end," Senator Cormann told the European Union Australia leadership in Sydney earlier this week, adding he was hopeful the delegation visit can help drum up support and enthusiasm for a deal, among European decision makers.
It's understood the EU and Australia are seeking to kick off formal negotiations in November.
Agricultural tariffs are expected to be a sticking point for the Europeans, while intellectual property and geographical indicators, products named after their specific origin, could be an issue for Australia.
The EU is Australia's second largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment.
In 2015-16, two-way trade was worth $95.6 billion and total investment stock from the EU was almost $1 trillion.
The delegation which includes Australian business representatives will be meeting political leaders at both the country and EU levels, central bankers, peak corporate groups, innovation agencies, and think tanks.
Share
