The European Union (EU) is the largest economic partner of Australia: the EU is Australia’s second largest trading partner and the EU is Australia’s largest investment partner. Yet, the EU remains the only major trading and investment partner with whom Australia does not have an Economic Integration Agreement or even a Preferential Trade Agreement, either in force or under negotiation. Without one, the legal and policy systems that regulate trade and investment between Australia and the EU must function in the complexity of different levels of political economy: non-unitary internal and external market constitutions against bilateral sectoral and multilateral general agreements on trade and investment. This book is the first to present a monographic study of the law and policy of trade and investment between Australia and the EU. Prof. Gonzalo Villalta Puig argues that a trade and investment agreement is necessary to remove the agricultural tariffs and quarantine requirements and to harmonize the regulatory divergences that bar bilateral trade. It is further necessary to facilitate and guarantee two-way investment. The book critically discusses: the Partnership Framework Agreement between Australia and the EU; the Mutual Recognition Agreement, Wine Agreement, and other sectoral agreements between Australia and the EU; the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Policy Reviews of Australia and the EU and disputes between them; Australia’s biosecurity system of quarantine requirements and food safety standards, its Luxury Car Tax, Wine Equalization Tax rebate, use of geographical indications, and the effect of Australian Industry Participation rules on government procurement market access; the EU’s agricultural protection system of tariff rates, export refunds, and Common Agricultural Policy direct payments and the consistency of its standards and technical regulations; the economic constitutions of Australia and the EU and their judicial interpretation; and the key provisions of a prospective trade and investment agreement between Australia and the EU. Original, significant, and rigorous, Economic Relations between Australia and the European Union: Law and Policy is certain to influence the development of both the bilateral relationship and the WTO as a multilateral forum for trade and investment liberalization. It is, thus, an essential reference for lawyers, customs brokers, freight forwarders, government officials, academics, and all professionals with an interest in the regulation of economic globalization.
