Talks over a free trade agreement between Australia and the EU have foundered after the sides failed to reach a deal over the weekend, scuppering five years of negotiations.
The impasse, which arose on the sidelines of the G7 trade ministers’ meeting in Japan, means that a deal is unlikely until 2025, according to Australian officials, with EU parliamentary elections in June next year and a federal poll in Australia before or in 2025.
Don Farrell, Australia’s trade minister who met his EU counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis in Osaka, said the two sides had not made progress in the latest round of talks. Farrell said he remained “hopeful” that a deal would be struck “one day” to the mutual benefit of Australia and the EU.