Australia and European Union to sign free trade agreement

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-24/eu-australia-free-trade-agreement-reached/106488438

Comments

unixheroMar 23, 2026, 9:43 PM
More lovely Italian, Belgian and French food in Australia

Here is an idea though: What about the free flow of people???

gnulinux996Mar 24, 2026, 3:09 AM
Some sort of worker mobility has been decided, there's going to be quotas I imagine.

I do not see a free flow of people happening, it would be viewed very negatively in Australia.

lbreakjaiMar 24, 2026, 12:48 AM
I'm afraid the deal would be too one-sided. There's far more Europeans wanting to live and work in Australia than the opposite. That's unfortunate, I wouldn't mind a bit of sun.
NoPicklezMar 24, 2026, 5:28 AM
Perhaps if you read the article you'd see the idea was included. Not free flow because that's silly, however there are rumored improved working rights.
justonceokayMar 23, 2026, 10:14 PM
You mean like visas, readily available from AUS to the EU?
unixheroMar 24, 2026, 8:21 AM
From EU and EEA to Australia.

So we can get out

Citizen track

cybercatgurrlMar 24, 2026, 12:16 AM
it’s part of the agreement
canypMar 24, 2026, 2:16 AM
How? Labour mobility sounds like easier visa applications. Free flow would mean you can go from one place to another without a passport (you can do this currently within the EU with a EU ID.)
NoPicklezMar 24, 2026, 5:29 AM
Well it makes sense to be able to do this within the EU with an EU ID, however Australia isn't in the EU and also doesn't have an EU ID.
dfhvneoienoMar 23, 2026, 9:53 PM
[dead]
dzongaMar 23, 2026, 10:49 PM
many of these so called free-trade agreements end up benefiting whoever has the biggest | nosiest lobby.

saw it happen in the UK with the so called fishermen.

then again saw it happen in the US | UK with regards to luxury cars.

the common man what does he benefit - no free movement of labor.

digitalPhonixMar 24, 2026, 2:36 AM
[dead]
troadMar 24, 2026, 5:00 AM
Reading the details, this is objectively a terrible deal for Australia. No wonder Australia previously just walked away from these negotiations.

Everyone is so upset about Trump that they're signing awful trade deals so they can pretend like the international order is alive and well and doing great.

vrganjMar 24, 2026, 9:04 AM
Everyone's signing trade deals with the EU. Europe's been quietly rerouting the global economy to be at its center.

Trump is Making Europe Great Again.

troadMar 24, 2026, 3:32 PM
Australia is much closer to the vast economic centres of Asia and across the Pacific from the US. It has existing and much more robust trade deals with the US, China, ASEAN, and India. (The EU has failed to achieve FTAs with most of these economies, despite decades of efforts.) I highly doubt Australia is going to start centring Europe, on the literal other side of the planet, over these trade partners.

This deal is more of a statement re global affairs, but it's a pretty bad one. The reason Europe has such a limited free trade network compared to Australia's is that Europe doesn't actually want foreign imports (that's why Australian farmers are getting screwed here), it just wants to seem relevant in the international order. Most countries aren't interested. It's fairly incompetent of the Australian government to agree to this.

Just look how the deal is being covered in Australia. [0] Industry is outraged and the government is framing this as some kind of aspirational statement that the international order is "not dead".

[0] https://www.afr.com/topic/trade-deals-1moy