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I spoke this week with the EU ambassador to Australia, @MichaelPulchEU, about the ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreement, climate policies, and growing support in Europe for a carbon border adjustment mechanism @EUinAus https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/11/europe-trade-talks-australia-urged-to-be-more-ambitious-on-climate #ausclimate 1/
I spoke this week with the EU ambassador to Australia, @MichaelPulchEU, about the ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreement, climate policies, and growing support in Europe for a carbon border adjustment mechanism @EUinAus https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/11/europe-trade-talks-australia-urged-to-be-more-ambitious-on-climate #ausclimate 1/
First, to the trade negotiations between the EU & Australia. Pulch says it will be "the gold benchmark of free trade agreements", covering trade in goods, a services component, and efforts to tackle non-tariff barriers. "If we can finish it this year, we will do it." 2/
How important is climate change in the negotiations? Pulch says it's important to put ambitious language in the sustainable development chapter. He plays down the idea climate could be a sticking point in the actual FTA negotiations with Australia - with a significant caveat: 3/
Pulch observes that climate change is "probably the top priority for this European Commission and it is also a top priority today in European national parliaments and the European parliament" so "whatever we do will have to have a net positive impact on climate change". 4/
"Fulfilling commitments that that our partner countries have given during the Paris agreement ... process is important. We have to demonstrate that our partners are part of the Paris agreement process and that they are fulfilling their commitments." 5/
Eventually, the European parliament will need to ratify the FTA. The need for Australia to implement Paris effectively "is not part of the negotiations as such, but it will be part of how member states and the European parliament will debate the outcome of the negotiations". 6/
Turning to climate more broadly: Pulch signals in run-up to Glasgow #COP26 it's important for countries to lift their medium-term (2030s) targets, saying partners need to think whether “now in a better position than, say, 5 years ago to have a more ambitious climate objective” 7/
And the EU ambassador to Australia says there's growing global momentum to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, spurred on by the new Biden administration in the US, and “we would all wish to see that all our partner countries would go in that direction”. 8/
And what about the thorny issue of carbon border adjustment mechanisms? New Australian trade minister @DanTehanWannon said last month he would be “working actively to ensure that we don’t see carbon tariffs used as a new form of protectionism” 9/
Pulch says the EU is in the process of considering the potential design of a carbon border adjustment mechanism "and one of our objectives, of course, is that whatever we decide has to be WTO compliant". “Certainly I think we will have more discussions around this,” he says. 10/
A final thought from Pulch on carbon border charges: “Until relatively recently, this was an idea that was on the table but hadn’t been picked up. I think we’ll see a lot of drive on this also coming from Washington. So that puts it differently on the world map, if you wish.” 11/
You can see more from the interview with @MichaelPulchEU and a bit more background in our @GuardianAus story today: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/11/europe-trade-talks-australia-urged-to-be-more-ambitious-on-climate #auspol
And @adamlmorton takes a closer look at the potential impact of European carbon levies on Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/11/big-emitting-australian-businesses-could-soon-face-costly-carbon-levy-in-europe
