Political Relations

Europe's first recorded ties with Australia date back to Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and English explorers of the 17th century.  The British settlement of Australia in 1788 marked the start of a steady stream of Europeans eager to forge new lives in the great southern continent.  A spurt of immigration following the Second World War saw Australia and Europe develop a broader, stronger social and cultural kinship underscored by common democratic values.

Today the European Union and Australia remain natural political, economic and social partners. While the nature of the relationship has changed significantly from colonial times and particularly from 1973 when the United Kingdom joined the European Community (as it was known then), the economic partnership remains the mainstay of the relationship.  The EU has been Australia's largest economic partner for over two decades, including trade in merchandise goods, services and investment.

Past tensions have been much attenuated with the very significant Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms since the early nineties and the EU's ever increasing commitment to world trade liberalisation. While some differences of view on agriculture remain, the EU and Australia share many common objectives in the WTO's current Doha Round of negotiations.

Politically, the EU and Australia have a similar democratic parliamentary systems of government.  They participate in multilateral fora such as the United Nations, where they usually share common ground on the political issues of the day, and the WTO and the OECD; as well as at a regional level in, for example, the ASEAN Ministerial Forum and the Pacific Island Forum.

Ministerial consultations between the European Commission and Australia started in 1976 covering a wide range of issues.  They evolved from talks on bilateral trade issues to cover multilateral trade matters and international relations, development aid programmes, science and technology, environmental protection, and education and training.  By the 1980s these consultations had become formal annual meetings alternating between Brussels and Canberra.  The most recent ministerial meeting took place in Sydney in 2007, when Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited Australia.

An EU-Australia Joint Declaration adopted in June 1997 was followed by an Agenda for Cooperation in 2004, to help invigorate the bilateral relationship. A formal review is currently underway to develop a new Key Partnership Framework Agreement, to reflect the strengthing and developing ties between Australia and the EU.

The EU and Australia share common interests too in the wider geo-political arena. The memory of losing thousands of her young people in two world wars is a constant reminder that moves to render warfare unthinkable in a European arena are of vital concern to Australia as well. Hence initiatives such as the enlargement of the EU to include countries of east and central Europe, the increasing involvement of Russia in the concert of nations, and the development of an EU Common Foreign and Security Policy are all welcomed by Australia.

In the Asia Pacific region, Australia and the EU take a similar approach in most respects:  global and regional security, constructive engagement with China, cooperative aid operations in the Pacific Islands, to mention a few. 

Political dialogue on these and other related issues are conducted in formal consultations between the EU Presidency, the European Commission and the Australian government, held on an annual basis.  Regular consultations are also conducted between the European Parliament committee for Relations with Australia and the corresponding committee of the Australian Parliament.