PM Ardern 'really positive' with NZ position in pursuing EU trade deal
By Paul McBeth
April 24 (BusinessDesk) - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is cautiously optimistic about New Zealand's pursuit of a free
trade agreement with the European Union, with the nation's focus on environmental protections finding favour with French
President Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking at her weekly post-Cabinet press conference since returning from the trip to Europe and the UK, Ardern said her
primary goal of the trip to Europe was a successful meeting with Macron, with France traditionally resistant to opening
its agricultural sector to international competitors. New Zealand hopes to secure a mandate for formal free trade
negotiations with the EU next month, although Ardern said there's still work to be done with a number of EU members,
particularly on agriculture.
"To have had such a positive response from President Macron definitely caused me to come away feeling really positive
with our position - much more so than perhaps I did prior," Ardern said. "I came away with the sense that we would be
able to see support from their corner on that agreement."
Trade Minister David Parker this month announced an upcoming consultation on the government's new trade agenda, which
wants trade policy to support a range of wider social goods, including environmental issues. He's previously cited an EU
trade deal as an opportunity to pursue a "gold-standard" deal, with environmental and labour standards areas of shared
values.
Ardern today said those environmental priorities were a "selling point" with Macron, and that the sense she "got both
publicly and privately was a real interest in embedding into our agreement some of the domestic priorities into an
international framework".
Government figures show New Zealand's exports to the EU grew 6.4 percent to $5.2 billion in the 12 months ended Feb. 28
and imports climbed 15 percent to $10.66 billion.
(BusinessDesk)