“Today we sign the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and New Zealand. An ambitious and balanced agreement that reflects our shared goals on zero emissions. We are already the third trading partner of New Zealand. Now we could increase trade between us by 30%,” he said. von der Leyen.
“Despite being so far apart, we share a vision of the world and this agreement will be able to increase investments by 80%“, he added.
New Zealand also became part of the New Horizon scientific program and signed a cooperation agreement with Europol. The EU and New Zealand are therefore “closer” from today.
“The agreement will reduce approximately €140 million per year in duties for EU companies from the first year of application. As a result of this agreement, bilateral trade is expected to grow by up to 30% in a decade, with a potential increase for annual EU exports of up to 4.5 billion euros,” he said.
In addition, he announced that “EU investments in New Zealand could increase up to 80%” while highlighting the commitments “of sustainability without precedent, including compliance with the Paris Agreement on climate and the fundamental rights of workers”.
The agreement opens the door to New Zealand’s participation in the research and innovation framework program Horizon Europe (2021-2027).
New Zealand and the EU will cooperate on research projects related to climate change and carbon neutrality, but also in other areas such as big data, precision agriculture, sustainable energy, earthquake research and industrial innovation.
The agreement should boost bilateral cooperation in research and innovation. The text will now be sent to the European Parliament for approval.
Following Parliament’s approval, the Council can take the decision on the conclusion and, once New Zealand has notified that it has completed the ratification procedure, the agreement can enter into force.
Will there be a Mercosur – EU agreement?
While the European Union closes the agreement with New Zealand, negotiations with Mercosur are still going on. In the middle of last month, Von der Leyen urged the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; and from Argentina, Alberto Fernandez; to work for reach a “compromise” aimed at closing the deal between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, within the framework of the visit to Chile, where he met with Gabriel Boric at the Palacio de La Moneda.
President Alberto Fernández assured that there is “political will” to sign an agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) before the end of the year. “We all have the will to want to reach an agreement. The obstacles are in us and we have to start removing them. It is not so difficult to remove them if the political will exists. And on our part it exists. We only ask for a balanced agreement, where we all win“Said the President after the meeting he had with Von der Leyen at the Casa Rosada.
For her part, the President of the European Commission said that this is “a very important agreement that we are working on and much of the deal is already donewe are now in the process of exchanging clarifications from parts of the agreement.”
With “President Lula and Fernández have to work hard to reach a compromise”he said, adding that he expects the trade agreement to be concluded by the end of the year.
Recently, the president Fernandez topped the 62nd Plenary Session of the Summit of Heads of State of the mercosur and Associate States in Puerto Iguazú. In this framework, he said that “Argentina believes that the agreement between the mercosur and the European Union represents an opportunity” and stated that it is hoped that “the negotiations under way will produce balanced results for all parties”.
Source: Ambito
