Four years ago, the European Commission already reached an agreement with the government in Wellington.
The main feature is that nearly all import duties on export products will be significantly reduced mutually and eventually completely abolished. The trade agreement shows many similarities with North America (Nafta) and South America (Mercosur) and the treaty under preparation with Australia.
The agreement will only come into effect once the European Parliament has approved it and the New Zealand parliament has passed the necessary laws. However, New Zealand's chief negotiator Vangelis Vitalis warns that ratification will require a considerable amount of political persuasion.
“It is by no means a done deal, and if you look at the reactions from both the New Zealand and European dairy industries, you can already see that they are starting to mobilize their forces on how they would oppose this deal.
European farmers remain dissatisfied with the agreement, claiming that it will give New Zealand farmers too much access to the European market. Red meat and dairy will receive a reduction of 120 million dollars on their annual tariffs from the start, rising to more than 600 million dollars within seven years.
The trade committee of the European Parliament tends to approve the treaty, but concerns come from the Agriculture Committee. It is the trade branch within the EU that manages this, with the agricultural branch as an advisor. The trade ministers have now cleared the way to start the ratification procedure.
Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen of the European agricultural umbrella organization Copa-Cosega told the committee that "painful compromises" were made on "sensitive" sectors such as meat and dairy. “At the moment, the agricultural sectors in the EU are under enormous pressure from all sides, and it will be a real challenge to remain open to procedures in further trade agreements,” said Pesonen.