Report of the 12th round of negotiations for a trade agreement between the European Union and Australia
Officials from the European Commission and Australia held the 12th round of
negotiations for a trade agreement between the European Union and Australia
from 7 to 18 February 2022 through a series of video -conferences. The EU
negotiating team was led by Mr Peter Berz, Chief Negotiator and Head of Unit at
the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, while the
Australian team was led by Ms Alison Burrows, Chief Negotiator and First
Assistant Secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Discussions were held in a good and constructive atmosphere and showed a
shared commitment to negotiate an ambitious and comprehensive agreement. 26
working groups and sub -groups met covering all areas of the future trade
agreement. Negotiators continued discussing the textual proposals that had been
submitted for the different chapters, and the respective comments received. They
clarified the underlying concepts and practices, the linkage with international
agreements where relevant, and the involvement of different levels of
government. Where possible, negotiators agreed in principle on text parts that were
acceptable to both sides. The chapters on transparency and on domestic
regulation were provisionally concluded during the round. Revised govern ment
procurement offers had been exchanged ahead of the round. A number of follow-
up actions were decided. For more details please click the link below to read the full report.
