# The Commission president hopes to break the deadlock on an agreement that has been stalled since 2023.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will fly to Australia later this month in a bid to seal a long-delayed trade agreement, sources familiar with the matter told Euronews.
One source said von der Leyen could head to Canberra shortly after the Munich Security Conference concludes on 15 February.
Whether the trip goes ahead will depend on progress in negotiations led by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who is due to meet Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell in Brussels next week.
“As always, progress in the sensitive phase of negotiations will depend on substance,” Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told Euronews.Talks on an EU-Australia free-trade agreement collapsed in 2023 after Canberra accused Brussels of failing to offer sufficient market access for beef, sheep, dairy and sugar.
Agriculture remains a perennial flashpoint in EU trade negotiations. The Mercosur agreement has already met furious opposition from European farmers, who fear unfair competition from increased imports coming from Latin America.
Australia, however, is viewed in Brussels as a strategic and like-minded partner as the EU seeks to diversify its trade relationships, expand access to global markets and reduce exposure to a closing US market and China’s increasingly aggressive trade policy.
First Mercusor, then India, now Australia?
You get a trade deal! You get a trade deal! Everyone gets a trade deal!…no not you America, you can go fuck yourselves.
This is great news, the same was done already with Canada I believe. Japan should be next.
Finally the trade in seals will get a boost!
Hope this time they’ll honour the contract instead of stabbing us in the back when the US ask for it like with AUKUS.
Those trade deals coming up weekly now. What where they doing the past 30 years??
O no, the one thing I heard as a positive from Brexit wad the UK/Australia deal! Not even going to have that now…
Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the corresponding NATO expansion to Sweden and Finland and Trump’s international politics that now cause multiple trade deals really show that aggressive behaviour by large countries can open Overton Windows to more unity among the rest of the world.
I wonder if other authoritarians are looking at this and think that it is still worth it to act aggressively on the international stage.
I wonder if the free movement provision will be included.
She’ll go to a supermarket, see *Danish Feta* on sale, and instantly remember why all the other previous rounds of negotiations have failed.
And that grape is called *Prosecco*, no matter how much the EU want to rename it to *Glera* in order to slap a geographic designation on the wine and get a regulatory monopoly.
USA is finished…. first they went full fascist… now they are fascists AND alone.
About 15 years ago, Australia pointed out Europe’s dependence on Chinese rare earths and critical minerals and offered to partner on more environmentally sustainable processing so the EU would have an uninterrupted supply. Made sense as we have a continent of resources, including gas. But Europe said no deal. Were happy to buy rare earths from China and gas from Russia. Wouldn’t talk to us until we renamed our agricultural products – which seemed a bit weird.
So how did that go for you?
Mercosur -> disaster
India -> disaster
…who voted for this person again?
Without the threat of tariffs? What is this message? Of cooperation instead of confrontation…?
17 comments
# The Commission president hopes to break the deadlock on an agreement that has been stalled since 2023.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will fly to Australia later this month in a bid to seal a long-delayed trade agreement, sources familiar with the matter told Euronews.
Concluding the deal would mark another trade win for the Commission, following recent deals with Latin America’s [Mercosur](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/17/eu-seals-contentious-trade-deal-with-mercosur-countries) bloc and [India](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/27/eu-inks-mother-of-all-deals-with-india-trade-agreement-amid-global-turmoil), as geopolitical tensions intensify with the US and China.
One source said von der Leyen could head to Canberra shortly after the Munich Security Conference concludes on 15 February.
Whether the trip goes ahead will depend on progress in negotiations led by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who is due to meet Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell in Brussels next week.
“As always, progress in the sensitive phase of negotiations will depend on substance,” Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told Euronews.Talks on an EU-Australia free-trade agreement collapsed in 2023 after Canberra accused Brussels of failing to offer sufficient market access for beef, sheep, dairy and sugar.
Agriculture remains a perennial flashpoint in EU trade negotiations. The Mercosur agreement has already met furious opposition from European farmers, who fear unfair competition from increased imports coming from Latin America.
Australia, however, is viewed in Brussels as a strategic and like-minded partner as the EU seeks to diversify its trade relationships, expand access to global markets and reduce exposure to a closing US market and China’s increasingly aggressive trade policy.
First Mercusor, then India, now Australia?
You get a trade deal! You get a trade deal! Everyone gets a trade deal!…no not you America, you can go fuck yourselves.
This is great news, the same was done already with Canada I believe. Japan should be next.
Finally the trade in seals will get a boost!
Hope this time they’ll honour the contract instead of stabbing us in the back when the US ask for it like with AUKUS.
Those trade deals coming up weekly now. What where they doing the past 30 years??
O no, the one thing I heard as a positive from Brexit wad the UK/Australia deal! Not even going to have that now…
Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the corresponding NATO expansion to Sweden and Finland and Trump’s international politics that now cause multiple trade deals really show that aggressive behaviour by large countries can open Overton Windows to more unity among the rest of the world.
I wonder if other authoritarians are looking at this and think that it is still worth it to act aggressively on the international stage.
I wonder if the free movement provision will be included.
She’ll go to a supermarket, see *Danish Feta* on sale, and instantly remember why all the other previous rounds of negotiations have failed.
And that grape is called *Prosecco*, no matter how much the EU want to rename it to *Glera* in order to slap a geographic designation on the wine and get a regulatory monopoly.
USA is finished…. first they went full fascist… now they are fascists AND alone.
Wish we had a deal with South korea.
Isn’t mercusor deal blocked in courts? https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/21/european-parliament-freezes-mercosur-deal-referring-it-to-eu-court-of-justice
About 15 years ago, Australia pointed out Europe’s dependence on Chinese rare earths and critical minerals and offered to partner on more environmentally sustainable processing so the EU would have an uninterrupted supply. Made sense as we have a continent of resources, including gas. But Europe said no deal. Were happy to buy rare earths from China and gas from Russia. Wouldn’t talk to us until we renamed our agricultural products – which seemed a bit weird.
So how did that go for you?
Mercosur -> disaster
India -> disaster
…who voted for this person again?
Without the threat of tariffs? What is this message? Of cooperation instead of confrontation…?