European Union and New Zealand strengthen their partnership
The European Union (EU) and New Zealand today reaffirmed their commitment to deepen their partnership in the coming
years, and explored opportunities for further collaboration.
In 2016 the EU and New Zealand signed a Partnership Agreement on Relations and Cooperation (PARC) to strengthen ties and
deepen cooperation on issues of mutual interest. Today marked the first meeting of the Joint Committee established under
the PARC, which provided an opportunity for a strategic review of the bilateral relationship and its future direction.
Despite geographic distance, the friendship and partnership between New Zealand and the European Union is very close.
The Joint Committee reaffirmed the excellent state of their bilateral relations based on shared values and common
principles and the importance of the PARC in deepening these ties still further over the years to come.
The Joint Committee noted the close alignment between the EU and New Zealand on most regional, international and global
issues, shared perspectives on key Asian strategic issues, and looked forward to their upcoming Strategic Dialogue in
June 2018. Both renewed their commitment to continuing close cooperation in the Pacific, where their Partnership has
already delivered significant concrete results in increasing access to renewable energy.
Both reaffirmed their commitment to working closely together in multilateral fora, and especially for the effective
implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and to exploring the potential of joint work towards achieving
its goals.
The parties discussed the global security environment and noted the importance of security cooperation for both sides.
They committed to continuing to take opportunities to deepen this engagement as the EU’s security architecture evolves.
The parties noted the importance of an effective rules-based system to support international trade, reviewed their
existing trade dialogues, including in agriculture and fisheries, and discussed preparations for the launch of free
trade negotiations between the EU and New Zealand.
The parties noted the strength of existing research, education and people-to-people links, and discussed options for
deepening these in the years ahead.
The Joint Committee also adopted its Rules of Procedures and Terms of Reference for its Subcommittees and Working
Groups.
The EU delegation was led by Ms Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the
European External Action Service. The New Zealand delegation was led by Mr Rob Taylor, Divisional Manager, Europe
Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The next EU-New Zealand Joint Committee meeting will be held in 2019 in Brussels.
ENDS