JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT
European Commission - Australia Ministerial Consultations
Commissioner Chris Patten, Commissioner Poul Nielson and Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer
18 May 2004
At the 20th Ministerial Consultations between the European Commission and Australia held today in Brussels, we addressed a comprehensive agenda of bilateral and international issues.
We reviewed progress in implementing initiatives under the Australia-European Union: an agenda for cooperation,the strategy we adopted at last year's Consultations. We note with satisfaction the advances we have achieved under this ambitious work programme during the past year.
We welcome our deepening dialogue on development cooperation and are committed to work together in the Pacific region to promote stability, good governance and sustained development. We have made already a significant contribution to the recovery and nation-building processes in East Timor and Solomon Islands.
We have strategies in place to reinforce existing cooperation in education and science and technology, with a third post-graduate student exchange project launched recently and increasing interest in participating in scientific research collaboration. Negotiations are underway on civil aviation and consultations continuing on cooperation on the Galileo Satellite System. We have agreed to deepen cooperation on environment issues and will take forward a number of bilateral climate change cooperation projects.
Reflecting our increasing exchanges on international and security-related issues, we discussed recent developments in Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan, North Korea, and the Asia Pacific region. We discussed counter-terrorism and how to build regional capacity to tackle some of the root causes of terror. We agreed that information-sharing, including increased cooperation between our law enforcement authorities, will become all the more important as the European Union enhances its role in responding to internal and external security challenges.
We discussed bilateral and multilateral trade issues. Progress in negotiations on our wine agreement has been good and we hope to settle this long-standing issue soon. We are also determined to work together to advance the Doha Round of trade negotiations this year in order to contribute to achieving an ambitious, balanced outcome from the Round.
We agreed on the importance of regular high-level contact to ensure that our relationship remains dynamic and that our partnership delivers practical outcomes. To this end, the Commission has welcomed Australia's invitation to the President of the European Commission to visit Australia at the first opportunity.
Contact: John Tuckwell, Senior Adviser, Economics and Trade
Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand
Tel: 02 6271 2734
this page updated August 17, 2006 |
