European Union

The bilateral relationship is now set in the context of the 2008 European Union - Australia Partnership Framework [623 KB] , which was launched at the EU-Australia Ministerial meeting on 29 October 2008 in Paris. The Partnership Framework is a comprehensive restatement of our shared values and close historical, political, economic and cultural ties.

Building on these strong foundations, it sets out a number of medium and longer term objectives and spells out an immediate action plan on how to best achieve them through concrete measures. The aim is to maximise our level of cooperation to achieve our common goals in:

• foreign policy,
• security threats especially from terrorism,
• international trade,
• regional cooperation in the Pacific.

We also aim to work together to help meet global challenges such as

• climate change and protection of the environment generally,
• energy security
• protection of fisheries and forests.

The Partnership Framework replaced the 1997 Australia-European Union Joint Declaration on Relations [18 KB] and the subsequent March 2003-08 Agenda for Cooperation [25 KB] . But this is not where the story ends, as the Partnership Framework remains a living document to be reviewed and adapted as objectives are achieved and circumstances change. It was reviewed in 2009 - see Activities completed or cooperation/coordination established in 2008 and 2009 [32 KB]
Several sectoral agreements complete the picture. Most notable among them are the following:

• 1982 Agreement between the Government of Australia and the European Atomic Energy Community concerning transfers of nuclear material from Australia to the European Atomic Energy Community;
• 1994 Agreement Relating to Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the European Community and Australia (expanded in scope in 1999) [33 KB] ;
• 2008 Agreement between the European Community and Australia on trade in wine [550 KB] ;
• 2012 Agreement between the European Union and Australia amending the Agreement on Mutual Recognition in relation to Conformity Assessment, Certificates and Markings between the European Community and Australia. [890 KB]  (amending agreement which came into force on 1 January 2013)
• 1999 Agreement on Mutual Recognition in relation to Conformity Assessment, Certificates and Markings between the European Community and Australia. [214 KB]