Australia, EU fail to reach free trade deal

Five years of negotiations between the European Union and Australia over a free trade agreement have ended in frustration after the two sides failed to find common ground over the issue of agricultural market access.

Hopes were high that a meeting on the margins of the G7 meeting in Osaka, Japan, on the weekend could see the long-running talks brought to a successful conclusion, with European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski both in attendance, but the two sides have stated publicly that a deal remains elusive.

"There was optimism that a deal was within reach," a spokesperson for the European Commission was quoted as saying by the Euractiv news website, suggesting that the blame lay with the other side going back over old ground. "The Australian side re-tabled agricultural demands that did not reflect recent negotiations and the progress made between senior officials."