European Union-Australia Ministerial Consultations 2003

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer,
Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, and
EU Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten

ALEXANDER DOWNER:
We've only got a few minutes so let me just make a few introductory remarks, and Mark also, and then Chris would like to say a few words as well.

I just want to say that we've completed very constructive and intensive consultations on a range of international and bilateral issues with Chris Patten, the European Commissioner for External Relations. Also at lunch I had the opportunity - the Commissioner had the opportunity to meet with David Kemp, the Environment Minister and Richard Alston, the Communications Minister.

I want to make this point. Today is an important day for the European Union because today is the day of the signing in Athens of the accession treaty for 10 new members of the European Union and we, as Australians, would very warmly like to congratulate those new members on the signing of the treaty and we'd also like to congratulate the European Union as a whole for the great progress it's made with enlargement which is, quite apart from anything else, an enormous foreign policy achievement and, I think, will be very much to the benefit of those 10 new members of the European Union and to the European Union itself because those 10 members will bring their own perspectives.

We had very good discussions today about trade issues which Mark will refer to and we've also been able to talk about Iraq and the rehabilitation process which lies ahead in Iraq and the work that needs to be done there. Importantly we talked about the Middle East peace process which Australia and the European Union want to see move ahead as quickly as possible; the issue of North Korea; cooperation on counter-terrorism, particularly in the context of our own region, of terrorism and counter-terrorism in south-east Asia.

Also we have reviewed the joint declaration, over the last year or so we've reviewed the joint declaration between Australia and the European Union and today we're releasing publicly the results of that review which provide for strengthening areas of cooperation which perhaps traditionally haven't had a very high profile in Australia/EU relations but in areas like education, science and technology, development cooperation, trying to coordinate, where we can, our aid budgets and transport and the environment and migration and asylum issues. We have very common positions and common interests in all of these areas and we are really concentrating our efforts, not just on the trade issues, important as they are - not to diminish their importance - but on these other areas of cooperation between Australia and the European Union. So, as always, I'm delighted to have Chris here in Australia. Sorry that he has come somewhat wounded this time from a game of tennis. It's quite appropriate, I think, he should come to Australia wounded from tennis but anyway, we hope you get well soon.

MARK VAILE:
Thanks, Alex, and just very briefly. Obviously the relationship between Australia and the European Union is an incredibly important one for all the reasons that the Foreign Minister just outlined but also in terms of the capacity of the trading relationship between Australia and the European Union, something like about $54 billion worth of two-way trade takes place in both goods and services between Australia and the EU and, of course, we are both very active players in terms of developing a better and fairer trading regime across the world and strengthening our bilateral activities between our two countries.

And, of course, today with the signing of the treaty that will see the accession of 10 new members to the European community, will present some challenges to the European community but also some opportunities as far as Australia is concerned as a major trading partner and, of course, our discussions also focused on the opportunities that exist in terms of developing a better global set of trade rules through the Doha round of the WTO in which both the European Union and Australia play a crucial role and will continue to do so over the course of the next 18 or 20 months as we lead down to the end date for those negotiations and so this was a good opportunity to have further dialogue between Australia and the European Union on a number of those issues.

CHRIS PATTEN:
I won't add very much except to say that I'm delighted that despite a ruptured Achilles tendon I'm able to be here for these extremely useful talks today. We have a very good, mature relationship between the European Union and Australia and the relationship of friends and partners, friends and partners who share the same commitment to multilateral institutions, share the same commitment to values, share, broadly speaking, the same view of the world and that's a result of a great deal of history that we've enjoyed together, among other things.

The very good relationship which the European Union of 15 member states has with Australia will, I'm sure, be only exceeded by the relationship which a union of 25 member states will have with Australia which I think will give Australia a bigger market to sell into and, I hope, will build some new friendships and relationships for Australia on the European continent. So, once again, I'm grateful for the hospitality I've received today and looking forward to further talks tomorrow in Canberra.

ALEXANDER DOWNER:
We've got only a very few minutes for questions but if there are any questions, happy to try to answer them.

QUESTION:
Was there any discussion today about the problems with the EU and Australia over the quarantine services that's gone to the World Trade Organisation?

MARK VAILE:
Yes, we've continued to say that all members of the WTO - I mean, there's 145 of them at the moment - one of their fundamental rights and the reason that they belong to the WTO is so that if there is disagreement with one of their trading partners about an aspect of that trade, there's an opportunity to get an adjudication in Geneva and the WTO and, of course, we have or are involved in consultations at the moment with regard to the way that we apply the sanitary and phytosanitary protocols of the WTO in the quarantine system in Australia at the moment and that is not new and it's something that we will do and in the meantime, you know, the main core of the relationship will continue to move ahead. And we had a bit of a discussion about that and so that will take place but certainly it won't poison the rest of the relationship.

QUESTION:
Is there any room for Australia in the multilateral talks North Korea's agreed to?

ALEXANDER DOWNER:
The original proposal was for five plus five talks which would have included the European Union and Australia as well as Japan, Korea, the P5 and North Korea itself. We don't know whether that formulation is going to be the final formulation but I can only say this, that I'm encouraged that the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman has indicated a greater willingness on North Korea's part to be flexible about the form of dialogue that North Korea enters into and we hope that North Korea will, in time, agree to enter into some sort of multilateral formulation because this isn't just an issue between North Korea and the United States, this is an issue between North Korea and the region in which we all live and obviously more broadly an issue between North Korea and the rest of the world. I mean, it involves North Korea, for example, walking out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty which is a global treaty, not something specific to either North Korea or the United States. So we hope that some multilateral forum will be forthcoming for these talks and there are some signs that that might be possible. Now, who would actually be involved in that forum, that's too early to say.

QUESTION:
Are you pushing Australia's involvement?

ALEXANDER DOWNER:
I think we're in the so-called five plus five formulation. If that formulation is to be the final formulation we'll participate in that but it might be that the formulation will be more narrowly based towards north-east Asia but we just don't know the answer to that at this stage. Tony?

QUESTION:
Talking about contributions to the debate over the past 12 months on American power [unclear] the EU has probably become an Achilles heel.

CHRIS PATTEN:
Has become what?

QUESTION:
The Achilles heel so far as- -

CHRIS PATTEN:
Don't talk about Achilles heels to me.
There's a lot packaged up in that question. Maybe I can take one or two of the garments out of the luggage.
First, the United States is more responsible than any other country for the institutions of global governance which have given us all freedom and prosperity to an astonishing extent over the last 50 years. And my own view, and I think the strong view of my colleagues in the European Union, is the challenges that we face today, the dark side of globalisation, if you like, are all more likely to be overcome if we manage to work through those institutions and develop those institutions.

Secondly, Iraq was a hugely difficult issue for many countries. In Europe we're trying painfully, unevenly, to develop a common foreign policy, not a single foreign policy because foreign policy goes right to the heart of what it means to be a nation state. We've succeeded in some areas, in the Balkans, for example, where only 10 years ago there was bloody mayhem on our doorstep and we weren't able to do anything about it.

On Iraq, there were disagreements. Not disagreements about weapons of mass destruction, not disagreements about working through the UN to deal with them but disagreements about when the military option should be used in Iraq. Well, that issue has been resolved. There has been military action and now we all face the task of building on the rubble of a dictatorship and trying to build a better life for the Iraqi people, who deserve it.

I hope that we'll be able to work with the rest of the international community. I hope Europe will be able to work in that endeavour. I'm sure that the UN will be involved in that process. I don't think that's a matter of controversy. Precisely how the UN will be involved is not something you can simply take off the shelf. There are different models that have been used in the past - East Timor, Afghanistan, Kosovo - but I do think that most of us want to see the maximum international legitimacy for what emerges in Iraq. I think most of us want to see the maximum involvement of the Iraqi people. I think we want to see the neighbours involved. I think those sort of things are pretty obvious criteria for all of us. At the end of the day, we want, I hope, to see more effective ways emerging for dealing with threats like weapons of mass destruction, like terrorism, like the abuse of human rights on the scale that we saw in Iraq and I think, still think, that whatever the disagreements we've had at the UN, the best way of resolving those issues is through the United Nations and through international agreement.

QUESTION:
Back on the quarantine dispute. Do you think that this is actually going to go for adjudication at the WTO or will it be resolved before that?

MARK VAILE:
I'd be hopeful that it could be resolved before that but if it goes to the next stage, I mean, it's not a major drama. We've been through this process before both in the offensive and the defensive sides and it's not something that members of the WTO get over-exercised about if they end up there but I mean, there is a process to be followed.

We're in the early stages of that at this point in time. Hopefully it can be resolved without going to a panel. If it goes to a panel, well, we'll defend ourselves and I'm sure the EU will prosecute the case but, as I say, we're not going to allow a disagreement over one aspect of the relationship to poison the waterhole, so to speak, across the rest of what is a very substantial relationship.

QUESTION:
Do you have any sense in the lead-up to the Doha talks of there being talks on agriculture?

MARK VAILE:
How do you mean?

QUESTION:
Do you have any sense, you've had talks with Mr Patten about agriculture ... is there any indication that something positive will eventuate?

MARK VAILE:
We don't underestimate the challenges that confront the WTO during the course of the next 18 months as we address a whole range of issues and, of course, agriculture being one of the central issues and it will quite possibly take the fullness of that amount of time to finally resolve those issues but I remain confident and optimistic. It is our key trade policy objective to get an outcome in the Doha round as I'm sure it is with the European Union.

CHRIS PATTEN:
I totally agree with what the Minister has said. I think Australia and the European Union, the United States and others have crucial roles to play in securing a successful outcome to the Doha round. I think we owe it to the world to achieve that objective. There's a lot of work to do but I think it's perfectly achievable if we really put our backs into it.

QUESTION:
Were relations with Australia strained at all given your view on how Iraq should have been solved at the UN and given Australia's involvement directly?

CHRIS PATTEN:
Look, the European Union is made up of 15 countries. You may have detected from my accent which country I come from and you may have noticed I'm not representing that country, I'm representing the European Union but there are different views in the European Union on Iraq. So the fact that Australia has been involved with the United Kingdom and the United States in the military operation in Iraq, the extremely successful military operation, is not something which in any way strains the relationship between Australia and the European Union.

All I'd like to add today is my congratulations to those brave, young members of the Australian armed forces, men and women, who've contributed to a successful and speedy outcome. We all wish that, whatever our views, we all wish this had not been necessary but it's happened, it's been achieved with spectacular success so far and now we've all got the responsibility of building a better future for the people of Iraq. But my congratulations to the brave, young men and women who have made this possible.

ALEXANDER DOWNER:
I just want to repeat something I said this morning as well. First of all to thank Chris for those remarks. We appreciate that very much. I know people in Australia generally will.

But look, there obviously were fierce debates in the lead-up to the war in Iraq between members of the Security Council and within the European Union and around the international community. That's no secret. They were a matter of considerable drama and played out very publicly.

But the important thing is that now the war is close to being over the task ahead is the rehabilitation of Iraq and ensuring that the Iraqi people have a constructive future.

And this is a marvellous opportunity for them and an opportunity that mustn't be lost and a lot of reasons why it mustn't be lost but, first and foremost, it mustn't be lost in the interests of the Iraqi people themselves and, secondly, it mustn't be lost in the interests of making still greater progress towards resolving some of the other issues in the Middle East, not least the core issue of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians. And so I hope that all of the members of the Security Council let bygones be bygones and make sure that as the Security Council now addresses the role the UN can play, that it takes a constructive, cooperative and practical approach.

I said this morning I was encouraged by some remarks that Dominic De Villepin, my French counterpart, made a couple of days ago about the need to take a pragmatic approach to how the Security Council handles the issue of post-conflict Iraq. So I don't know what will happen in the Security Council and it will ultimately be a key, the key to defining the extent of the United Nations role but I do know that it's important we move on from the debates of the past.

We can't keep reliving all of the debates there have been over all of the years between all of the members of the Security Council or through the international community. We do need to move ahead. The war is as good as over and we need to get on with making sure that Iraq is, in a post-war environment, a truly successful country.

ENDS

this page updated August 17, 2006