Australia-EU trade deal to be delayed due to submarines row, official says

Australia’s cancellation of a French submarine contract will complicate and delay negotiations on an Australian-European Union free trade deal, a European trade official said (Neil Hall/PA)

Australia’s cancellation of a French submarine contract will complicate and delay negotiations on an Australian-European Union free trade deal, a European trade official said.

Australia’s decision to end the 66 billion dollar (£48 billion) deal was “kind of an attack against European interests”, said Bernd Lange, a German lawmaker and the chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.
“It is more complicated,” Mr Lange told Australian Broadcasting Corporation of the negotiations following the French snub.