The Australian Financial Review newspaper writes that the European Union has postponed negotiations on a free trade agreement with Australia amid the scandal over the refusal to purchase French submarines, RIA Novosti reported.
Earlier, Australia partnered with the United Kingdom and the United States on the defense and security of AUKUS and announced its withdrawal from a € 56 billion submarine agreement with the French company Naval Group, which provided for the production of 12 Barracuda-class attack submarines.
This decision was criticized in France. Foreign Minister Clement Bon said that EU countries are unlikely to be able to continue negotiations with Australia on free trade after such an erosion of trust in relations.
The next round of trade negotiations between Brussels and Canberra was to take place in October. Sources in the European Commission said that the negotiations will not take place and will be postponed for a month, due to a number of unresolved issues.
One of the observers, close to the negotiation process, confirmed to the publication that the postponement of the negotiations is related to the submarines.
Meanwhile, Australian Minister of Commerce Dan Tehan, who specially arrived in Europe to discuss the upcoming consultations with the European Commissioner, said that the talks were indeed about postponing the negotiations, not canceling them.
As the newspaper notes, the Australian minister, who will visit Paris next week, has not yet agreed on a meeting with his French counterpart Frank Riester. The Union of French Entrepreneurs MEDEF canceled a meeting with Tehan.