Canberra is watching Canada’s attempt to build a closer relationship with the European Union and is aligned with Ottawa on the issue, according to Don Farrell, Australia's trade minister. He said on Sunday that Ottawa is seeking a "unique alliance" with the EU, following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting he has floated making Canada an “associate member” of the bloc. Farrell said he would be open to all possibilities in potential new arrangements with the EU, but did not elaborate on what these arrangements might be.
President Donald Trump's tariff policy, he said he wasn't confident that a Democrat president would reverse trade barriers. And that makes the EU even more important to us,” he added. Farrell's remarks come as his prime minister, Anthony Albanese, attempts to get Australia's own EU trade deal through parliament.
Labor holds 30 of the Senate’s 76 seats, while the opposition Liberal-National Coalition has 27 and has threatened to oppose the agreement over agricultural access and climate policy. The EU matters to Australia in practical terms: Trade in goods and services between the EU and Australia topped €91 billion in 2024, making the bloc Canberra’s third-largest goods trading partner after China and Japan. Goods trade has grown by almost 50 percent over the past decade.
Under the deal, 97.8% of Australia’s goods exports would enter the EU duty-free once it takes effect. Australia’s interest in closer European ties is not entirely new. In 2025, Canberra reopened non-binding talks about associating with Horizon Europe, the bloc’s research and innovation program — a step toward scientific cooperation, not EU membership.
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