Canberra's view of Europe

Europe Business Review, Oct-Dec, 1999

The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, recently spoke on Australia and the EU at the Australian National University. Extracts:

"The process of European integration and growing EU prosperity have generally had positive consequences for Australia.

"Our economic relationship is strong. The EU is Australia's largest source of investment and last year our exports to the EU grew by 42 percent - a strong result.

"But there are still some negatives in what is an expanding and diversifying relationship.

"One big negative is that the EU is still pretty much closed to our traditional agricultural exports. The recent much-heralded CAP reforms hold out little prospect that the situation will change in the foreseeable future.

"The reforms offer nothing in terms of improved market access and basically only shift a large measure of financial assistance from price support to direct production-linked income support to farmers.

"Our expectation would be that EU subsidised production will not decline and may actually increase.

"We can only hope that, over time, the majority of ordinary consumers in the EU can come to realise that the price they pay for unreasonable levels of agricultural production provides only a short-term, and very inefficient, level of protection to European farmers.

"Fortunately we have been able to diversify our agricultural exports. The EU is now a major destination for Australian wine and game meats (including kangaroo and wild boar).

"Our trade disagreements have not detracted from the wider relationship, for our relationship has much more to it than just agriculture.

"We share common values, common insights, common outlooks and common principles. We have common civil societies, structures and institutions.

"The frameworks of modern Australian society can trace their origins directly to Europe. We are culturally linked.

"Modern Australian society was forever changed for the better by the waves of European migration after the Second World War.

"That migration made Australia more outward-looking, vibrant and confident. From that migration, Australia and Europe have developed stronger people-to-people ties.

"In 1997 the government signed the Joint Declaration with the EU to broaden our relationship and we are implementing it.

"Good progress is being made on bilateral cooperation in areas such as consumer policy, environmental cooperation, education and training and development cooperation.

"We also signed the Partnership 2000 initiative with Germany, established an Australia-Italy Economic and Cultural Council and conducted an extensive cultural programme with the United Kingdom in 1997 under the badge of `New Images" to show Britain that the old stereotypes of Australia were outmoded.

"The government believes that our foreign policy focus should be one of Asia first but not Asia only.

"Increasingly we have sought to play a role of meshing our geographic proximity with Asia and our cultural ties with Europe.

"Until recently, I think this link has been under-utilised in our relationship with Europe.

"Part of our aim in that relationship has been to seek a closer dialogue with Europe on a range of issues to increase European interest and engagement in regional affairs.

"It is only right that Europe be involved in these issues because they will, in one way or another impact on Europe despite the distance between our region and Europe.

"Ties of history and spirit make our relationship with Europe a very special one."

Europe Business Review will host a Leadership Roundtable on Australian foreign policy in Sydney on Wednesday 8 December 1999.